India vs England: Wasim Jaffer predicts the hosts' probable playing eleven for first T20I

High-flying Team India will be looking to make a winning start to the T20I series against England when both the teams lock horns against each other in the first game on Friday (March 12) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. The momentum is with India after their thumping 3-1 win over the Brits in the Test series.

The hosts had lost the first Test of the series before bouncing back in style by winning the next three games. England, however, are more than capable of turning things around and giving India a run for their money in the limited-overs format. The visitors are currently the top-ranked T20I team in the world.

The upcoming series will also provide an opportunity for both teams to start their preparations for this year’s T20 World Cup. The marquee event is scheduled to take place in October and November in India. Both India and England will be eyeing their first T20 World Cup title since 2007 and 2010 respectively.

Wasim Jaffer’s playing eleven for first T20I:

With several exciting uncapped players like Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan in India’s squad, it would be interesting to see the playing eleven for the series-opener. Only time will tell whether any player makes his debut in the first T20I or not. But as far as former India opener Wasim Jaffer is concerned, he believes India are unlikely to play any debutant in the upcoming game.

A day before the game, Jaffer took to Twitter to share his predicted Indian XI. Jaffer picked the incumbent pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan as the openers followed by skipper Virat Kohli at number three. For the no.4 spot, he went for KL Rahul. Jaffer also believes Rishabh Pant would play the first T20I.

Pant has not played a T20I since January last year. For the next two spots, he picked Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel as the all-rounders. For the bowling lineup, Jaffer mentioned that if Pandya is fit to bowl, he would pick Washington Sundar over Shardul Thakur. The other three bowlers in his eleven are Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, and Yuzvendra Chahal.

My team for first T20I:
1- Rohit Sharma
2- Shikhar Dhawan
3- Virat Kohli
4- KL Rahul
5- Rishabh Pant (WK)
6- Hardik Pandya
7- Axar Patel
8- Thakur/Sundar*
9- Bhuvneshwar Kumar
10- Deepak Chahar
11- Yuzvendra Chahal

*If Hardik is fit to bowl I'll pick Sundar else Thakur #INDVsENG

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) March 11, 2021