England beat India by seven wickets in the first of the three match T20 series at Kanpur. Skipper Eoin Morgan and Joe Root set up the victory for the visitors in front of a rather subdued crowd at the Green Park stadium.
After losing the opening T20I in Kanpur comprehensively, India will now need to win in Nagpur in the second T20I against England in order to take the series into a decider at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru next week.
1) KL Rahul
The Indian opener has just not got going in coloured clothing against England, having made a combined total fo 24 runs in 3 matches and in the opening T20I at Kanpur made a mere 8 runs, thereby exposing the rest of the batting line-up early once again. While there is no doubting Rahul’s potential with the bat, it will be important for him to get some runs under his belt in the next two games.
2) Virat Kohli
On Friday, the newly-appointed full-time skipper of the team decided to open the innings with Rahul and had a good start to the spell, smashing a 26-ball 29 to set the tone of the innings.
However, on Sunday Kohli may well be back to his usual Number 3 slot, if India decided to blood young Rishabh Pant onto the international scene and it will be interesting to see if he gets the platform to build upon like he has in the past, while walking in at 3.
3) Suresh Raina
Suresh Raina has been a one-format player largely and ensuring that they make full use of him in the shortest format of the game.
Hence, it would be a wise call to make him bat at the Number 3 position, where he has had a lot of success for the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL and also if an early wicket falls
4) Yuvraj Singh
After an excellent ODI series, Yuvraj Singh would have hoped to carry that form into the T20Is, but he could not do so, failing to make it big in Nagpur. As Number 4 position suits him well.
With Dhoni and an inexperienced lower-order to follow him, the left-hander will have an important role to play, bridging the gap between the top and the middle order and if India are to square the series 1-1 on Sunday, then his say will be vital.
5) MS Dhoni
In a long time in his T20I career, MS Dhoni has come in at the Number 6 position. Relieved of captaincy now, it is time the 35-year-old comes one place higher up the order and shepherds the middle and lower order.
6) Rishabh Pant
Manish Pandey did not make any substantial contribution in the Kanpur T20I and India well may try another young player in his place in the form of Rishabh Pant, who has been picked in the squad for this series.
Pant was picked on the back of a superb Ranji Trophy season, where he made 972 runs that included a triple ton and he could well be the lusty hitter that India would need at Number 6 to provide the final impetus to the innings.
7) Hardik Pandya
Hardik Pandya which is a all-rounder player has two more opportunities to prove that he is the ideal candidate for India’s quest for a seam-bowling all-rounder when they go to England in defense of their Champions Trophy.
8) Amit Mishra
The second change in India’s line-up for the Nagpur T20I will be replacing Parvez Rasool with Amit Mishra, who was brought in as the other replacement(Rasool being the second) for R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Mishra is a slightly different spinner to Yuzverndra Chahal, in the case, he bowls from a bit more wider of the crease then Chahal and also uses the googly a lot more.
9) Bhuvneshwar Kumar
The third and final change in the side for the Nagpur game. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was one of the main reasons for India to win the tightly fought Cuttack ODI as he proved to be vital at the death overs.
10) Yuzvendra Chahal
India’s most impressive bowler in the Kanpur T20I. Chahal ensured that the England opening pair did not close the game on their own, removing both Jason Roy and Sam Billings in the same over to bring India back into the contest.
11) Jasprit Bumrah
India’s death over specialist. Bumrah will once be the player to whom Kohli will turn to restrict the run flow in the final overs. However, in recent times, Bumrah has shown a bad tendency to bowl no-balls at a regular basis and he will need to work on that aspect of his game soon and fix it.
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