Follow UsThe new era for English cricket starts right here in Hampshire, even though one started with Baz-ball earlier against New Zealand. Jos Buttler takes over as the captain for the first time since Eoin Morgan called it a time from international cricket. India will be without a host of their superstars but have been greeted by the happy news of a returning Rohit Sharma.
Rohit missed the fifth Test between India and England but now will return with some vengeance, with an eye on winning the white-ball series’ against the Three Lions. Plus, more importantly, this series is part of the long build-up for India in their preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup Down Under.
Will it be Buttler’s new Three Lions or will it be the experienced captain Rohit who will have a say on this game?
Ground Details
Only nine matches have been played at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. But that gives us enough data and evidence to show which way this particular encounter will tilt. The average first-innings score at the venue in T20Is is 167 but teams that are expecting to win batting first, would need to put on 174.
Top-order batters have excelled at the venue, with Aaron Finch and Buttler being the top-two run-scorers at the venue. In all T20Is, top-order batters have scored 911 runs, striking at 135.8 with an average of 39.6. Teams batting first have won five out of the nine encounters at the venue, showing how ‘runs on board’ still is a reliable theory.
Across all the T20Is, pacers have a significant edge over the spinners at the venue, with 75 wickets (73.5%) in comparison to the 27 wickets picked by spinners. The pacers also average just 24.7 at the venue, unlike spinners who average 33.1.
Suggested Team
Captain and vice-captain suggestions
Grand League: Moeen Ali (c), Ishan Kishan (vc)
Small League: Jos Buttler (c), Harshal Patel (vc)
Stats that matter
- In just four innings at the venue, Jos Buttler, England’s new skipper has scored 221 runs, at an average of 110.5 and a strike-rate of 148.3. Earlier this year, in IPL, Buttler amassed 863 runs in the 2022 season, averaging 57.3 and a strike-rate of 149.05.
- Since the start of 2022, England opener Jason Roy has topped the scoring charts for the Three Lions in the shortest format, with 130 runs, with one fifty in five innings, striking at 130.
- The average first innings total at the Rose Bowl is 161. However, the average winning score in the first innings is 171, so teams that are batting first should target any score in that ballpark.
- Amongst the top-ten T20I nations, Ishan Kishan has scored the most runs in the calendar year (2022), with 411 runs, at an average of 34.25.
Grand League punts
- Moeen Ali is quite an explosive package. Despite stumbling in the first half of the IPL for the Super Kings, his innings against the Royals, where he smashed 93 should keep him stead-fast going into this T20I series. Incidentally, Ali is the fourth-highest run-scorer for the Three Lions this year with 108 runs in just five innings.
- Like Ali, Ishan Kishan too is a double-edged sword sort of package. The left-hander has impressive numbers this year in T20Is, with over 400 runs, including top-scoring for India in the five-match T20I series against South Africa. Having Kishan as your vice-captain could ultimately be decisive in the grand-league.
- Liam Livingstone should be one of the top-picks in the grand league, considering how he is a three-dimensional player, with now the onus on him to be more consistent with the ball. In IPL 2022, Livingstone scored 437 runs, at a strike-rate of 182. In his previous two appearances for England, albeit it being ODIs, Livingstone scored his runs at a strike-rate of 250.
Probable XIs
India – Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal
England – Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Dawid Malan, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Matt Parkinson, Tymal Mills