India vs England, 2nd T20I at Nagpur: Likely XIs for both teams
India vs England, 2nd T20I at Nagpur: Likely XIs for both teams
The last two T20Is involving India and England have went in favour of the latter, as they beat India by 7 wickets at Kanpur and by 3 runs in Southampton.
Written by Chinmay Jawalekar Published: Jan 29, 2017, 01:00 PM (IST) Edited: Jan 28, 2017, 08:08 PM (IST)
After series losses in Tests and One-Day Internationals (ODIs), England finally started the Twenty20 International (T20I) series on a winning note by registering an emphatic win in first T20I at Kanpur. Virat Kohli’s men were beaten all ends up by Eoin Morgan and co., who took a vital 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Vital, because taking a lead in a short series always helps and this is the first time they have done so this series. His side is, thus, in a good position to end the otherwise disappointing tour on a high with win in the shortest format. India, on the other hand, find themselves on the back foot. A series loss here will end Kohli the skipper’s dream run of being unbeaten in a series at home across formats.
More than the loss, Kohli would be worried about the team composition. KL Rahul has looked woefully out of form so far. His scores in last four outings read 8, 11, 5 and 8. Though he has come under fire, captain Kohli has defended his skills, saying the team management will continue to back the openers because of their past performance. But opening is not the only worrying factor for Kohli, as his bowlers, especially pacers, too, were off colour. Jasprit Bumrah has struggled throughout the ODI series to the first T20I, and Ashish Nehra looked rusty on his return.
Ahead of the all-important second T20I, Kohli will be forced to make a few changes in order to get back to winning ways. England, on the other hand, will not feel the need to tinker with the winning XI. In this segment, Chinmay Jawalekar takes you through the likely XIs of the two teams for the second T20I in Nagpur:
Top-order: With Rohit Sharma being unavailable, India have struggled in the opening department. Kohli was forced to open in the first game, a role he is likely to take up in the second game as well. His partner, however, can be a new face. Rahul has struggled to get to the double digits so far, and the management might want to try either of Mandeep Singh or explosive batsman Rishabh Pant in his place. While Mandeep has opened in all the three T20Is he has played so far, Pant is an exciting prospect at the top of the order. At No. 3, Suresh Raina is a certainty after his 23-ball 34 in the first game.
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For England, it won’t be a tough call. They would want to go with the winning combination. Jason Roy, who was exceptional in the ODIs, gave a blazing start to England along with Sam Billings. The two of them will once again take the responsibility of opening the innings. Joe Root, the fulcrum of English batting, will take the No. 3 spot.
Middle-order: Team India missed the hero of ODI series, Kedar Jadhav, in the first T20I. But there is no point discussing him, since he is not a part of the T20Is. No. 4 and No. 5 spots shall be taken by veteran players Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni respectively. The latter was the top-scorer in the first T20I during his unbeaten knock. But he did not quite get going, an area he would like to work upon and improve before the second game. Manish Pandey, who averages 14 after 7 T20Is, has not made the most of his chances in this format as yet. Likely to get a game at Nagpur, he will look to make amends. All-rounder Hardik Pandya will continue to play at No. 7.
England’s middle-order, which was not quite tested in the first game, is pretty much settled. Skipper Morgan played a fine knock of 51 before getting out. Barring him, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes did not get a chance to bat at Kanpur. But these three, along with Morgan, form a strong middle-order for England. In fact, it is their presence in the XI that has been a major reason for side’s recent success in shorter formats.
Bowling department: In absence of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, Indian spinners Parvez Rasool and Yuzvendra Chahal did a decent job. Chahal, in particular, was very impressive with his variations. He ended up picking two wickets and has ensured his place in the XI for the second game. Looking at the leg-spinner’s success, Kohli might feel tempted to play Amit Mishra. In that case, Rasool will be benched. In the pace department, both Nehra and Bumrah looked ordinary and either of them may get replaced by Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
For England, there is absolutely no worry in the bowling department. All the five bowlers they used in the first game were among the wickets. Especially, Man of the match Moeen Ali, Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan were right on the money. So good was their bowling that the services of specialist spinner Adil Rashid were not even required. It is highly unlikely England will make any change to the bowling department unless there is a last-minute injury.
Take a look at the likely XIs for the two teams for Nagpur T20I:
England: Jason Roy, Sam Billings, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Liam Plunkett, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan
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