India vs England: Returning senior stars under scanner as Men in Blue eye series-clinching win in 2nd T20I
India vs England: Returning senior stars under scanner as Men in Blue eye series-clinching win in 2nd T20I
Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja will return to the T20I setup as India look to make wholesale changes to the playing XI in the second match against England.
The senior superstars will be under the scanner, as they barely come out of the Edgbaston Test and the pounding from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow. More so as the current crop has been exceptional in the last few T20Is for India and replacing them is going to require some performance, even from the all-time greats.
The eyes, as often, will be more glued on Virat Kohli, albeit this time on his batting form rather than his on-field antics. He will have to accommodate into India’s refreshing and new batting approach in the format.
"We have spoken about it a lot. There is a certain approach we want to take. Yes, sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn't, but you have to keep backing yourself to do that again and again. That's why it is so challenging because you can't keep coming and doing the same thing every now and then.
"It is something we have spoken about, and all the players need to buy into it. Not just one or two players who understand what they want to do, but the whole batting unit coming together and understanding where the team wants to go,” Rohit Sharma had said about the team’s batting intent.
While Kohli is expected to make a comeback in place of the latest centurion in the format Deepak Hooda, several experts have suggested he open with Rohit instead of his usual number three position. But will they want him to open once KL Rahul returns to the foray?
On the other hand, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer will find it difficult to make a place in the playing XI and it will be interesting to see whom the think tank will drop these players. Moreover, there have been talks about Dinesh Karthik replacing Pant completely as the wicket-keeper in the shortest format, looking at the current form. Will Rohit and Rahul Dravid be lured to do that? Dravid also returns to the coaching setup after VVS Laxman took the responsibility in the first match.
India’s number 3,4, and 5 for the first time batted 10-plus balls and maintained a strike rate of more than 150. With the likes of Kohli, Iyer and Pant, India might significantly tinker with the combination.
Jadeja and Bumrah are expected to replace Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh respectively and should be an easy replacement as compared to the top-order conundrum.
England, on the contrary, are not expected to make any significant changes to their starting XI despite the thumping in the first match. They might want to shrug it off as a one-off bad day as they have been commendable in the shorter format of the game. However, Jos Buttler’s strike rate of 129.81 since the T20 World Cup last year is the highest amongst the top-four. Others might want to join in the party and now would be the best time to enjoy the music.
India lead the three-match series 1-0 after they beat the hosts by 50 runs in the first match in Southampton.
When: England vs India, 2nd T20I, July 9, 14:30 Local, 19:00 IST
Where: Edgbaston, Birmingham
Probable XI:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan/ Deepak Hooda, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal
England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Matthew Parkinson, Reece Topley/Richard Gleeson, Tymal Mills
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