PRE MATCH ANALYSIS
Follow UsBarring a couple of stuff, not many things have gone right for India in the ongoing five-match Twenty20 International series against England. Indian skipper Virat Kohli is once again scoring runs for fun. Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan has changed the dynamics at the top-order. Washington Sundar has been economical and consistent. But, that's about it.
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have just played a game each, while KL Rahul has only managed one run in three innings. Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Hardik Pandya have looked good in patches but are yet to stamp their authority. In the bowling department, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shardul Thakur have been inconsistent and this could hurt India in the long run. To be more specific, in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
Taking about the series, all three games have been won by the side batting second. England have a 2-1 lead and will look to seal the series by winning the fourth T20I in Ahmedabad on Thursday (March 18).
LET'S TALK ABOUT CHAHAL
From franchise leagues to international cricket, almost every single successful side has at least one quality wrist spinner in their arsenal. The success rate of wrist spinners in the shortest format of the game is well documented, and for India, it's Chahal. The legspinner produced fruitful results in the first couple of years after making his T20I debut, but has been pretty mediocre since 2019.
Chahal, Washington, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav are the only five spinners who have played more than one T20I since 2019. Krunal hasn't played a T20I since November 2019, while Kuldeep has fallen way off the radar when it comes to T20Is. Jadeja is currently injured, but he along with Washington have been two of India's most consistent spinners in this format. With Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy and Rahul Tewatia all waiting in the wings, Chahal needs to pull up his socks and start delivering.
ENGLAND'S DOMINANCE IN POWERPLAY OVERS
"If you look at the two powerplays today, as a bowling unit we bowled fantastically well and kept them well under par in the powerplay. And then we got off to a nice start, which really set us up to allow us not to have to take too many risks as the game went on, and get home pretty comfortably in the end," said Jos Buttler, who smoked a match-winning 52-ball 83* in the third T20I.
The visitors were dominant in the first six overs of each innings on Tuesday and that played a huge role in their eight-wicket victory. Batting has always been England's strength but prior to the series, skipper Eoin Morgan spoke about the importance of taking wickets in the powerplay and they have managed to do that. While the likes of Sam Curran, Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan have done a decent job in the first six overs, it's Mark Wood and Jofra Archer who have made the real difference.
The two have troubled almost every Indian batsman with their pace. England took three wickets in the powerplay of the opening match and did the same in the third encounter. Wood, in particular, was phenomenal in the third T20I. The tearaway paceman took two wickets in the powerplay and one more later to finish with figures of 3/31. He was whacked all around the park by Kohli in his last over but was impactful in his first three overs.
Just like Wood, Buttler too had a superb game. The wicketkeeper-batsman along with Jason Roy, Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow have been commanding in the first six overs and would once again want to keep India on the backfoot from the word go.
PROBABLE XIs
INDIA: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul/Suryakumar Yadav, Virat Kohli (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur/Navdeep Saini, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar
ENGLAND: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran/Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
