IND vs ENG: 1st T20I, Match Prediction- Who will win today’s match?

The pitches in Ahmedabad are expected to be a bit more batting-friendly than it was in the Test series.

Published - 11 Mar 2021, 13:51 IST | Updated - 11 Mar 2021, 13:51 IST

View : 26.8K

3 Min Read

England started their tour of India with a handsome win in the opening Test in Chennai. But ever since then, their fortunes have taken a turn as they lost the next three games to lose the series 1-3. The Three Lions are now set to take part in the five-match T20I series to regain their momentum on the tour.

The first T20I will be played on March 12 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India may have the psychological advantage going into the game as at the same venue, they won both the Tests.

Virat Kohli and Co, back in November 2020, defeated Australia in the T20 format and hence, they are expected to be high on confidence. The visiting team, on the other hand, have a power-packed batting unit, including having ICC’s number one ranked T20I batter- Dawid Malan.

Pitch and Conditions

The pitch in Ahmedabad turned out to be spin-friendly in the Tests and the batters succumbed to the vicious turn and bounce. The tracks are expected to be a tad batting-friendly with the change in formats. The temperature will be around 32 degrees Celsius with no chances of a downpour.

Playing Combinations for IND vs ENG

India

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel/Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini/T Natarajan, Yuzvendra Chahal

Bench: Axar Patel/Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini/T Natarajan, Shikhar Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Ishan Kishan, Shardul Thakur

England

Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Eoin Morgan (C), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran/Jofra Archer

Bench: Sam Curran/Jofra Archer, Liam Livingstone, Sam Billings, Reece Topley, Mark Wood

Probable Top Performers of IND vs ENG

KL Rahul– India

KL Rahul has been a fulcrum of the Indian limited-overs teams over the last 12 months or so. He was the leading run-scorer for India in the tour of New Zealand. Even against the Aussies, he got a half-century and a score in the 30s. The batter is most likely to open the batting with Rohit Sharma.

Jos Buttler– England

Jos Buttler has weaved magic for England in the white-ball format. It’s a reason why the Rajasthan Royals have shown immense faith in him in the IPL. He throws the kitchen sink at everything from the word go and can also put his head down. The home team can’t afford to let him get his eyes in.