India once again find themselves behind in a bilateral series, this time in T20Is, following their humiliating eight-wicket loss against England in Friday’s first match in Ahmedabad. Virat Kohli and Co will look to turn things around, and put up a more spirited performance when the two teams face-off in the second T20I on Sunday.
India skipper Virat Kohli and England's Eoin Morgan pose with the T20I series trophy. Sportzpics
The hosts were put into bat after Eoin Morgan won the toss and England opted to field on Friday. Barring Shreyas Iyer (67), none of the other Indian batsmen even got off to successful starts as Jofra Archer scalped three wickets on a slow Ahmedabad track. Captain Virat Kohli succumbed to a third duck in five innings across formats (twice coming during the Tests).
And despite Kohli confirming that Rohit Sharma would open with KL Rahul, the former was later ‘rested’ for the first couple of matches, which meant that Shikhar Dhawan opened with Rahul. That move backfired as Rahul (1) and Dhawan (4) were dismissed in the first four overs.
The Men in Blue will need the likes of Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant to step up with their explosive batting prowess, and will expect them to handle pressure situations well with the bat.
India’s bowling display was also below-par with Yuzvendra Chahal enduring the match’s expensive spell with figures of 1/44 from four overs (economy rate of 11).
Navdeep Saini’s extra pace could add variety to India’s bowling lineup, but it remains to be seen if one of three spinners could make way for the right-arm fast bowler.
For England, Jason Roy looked sharp before being struck lbw by Washington Sundar. He and Jos Buttler stitched 72-run opening wicket stand, and thus, that stand eased the pressure on rest of the batsmen, as Dawid Malan (24*) and Jonny Bairstow (26*) sealed England’s victory.
The visitors may not look to tinker their match-winning squad, and will aim to build on their impressive form as they eye a 2-0 series lead.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the second T20I:
When is the second T20I between India and England?
The second T20I between India and England will begin on 14 March, Sunday.
Where will the second India-England T20I be played?
The second India-England T20I will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
What time will the match begin?
The match will begin at 7.00 pm IST with the toss taking place at 6.30 pm IST .
Which TV channels will broadcast the T20I?
The first T20I between India and England will be telecast on the Star Sports network. The match will also be live-streamed on Disney + Hotstar. You can also catch the live updates on firstpost.com.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Shreyas Iyer, Rahul Tewatia, Axar Patel, T Natarajan, Ishan Kishan, Rahul Chahar.
England: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Jos Buttler (wk), Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Ben Stokes, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Sam Billings, Reece Topley, Mark Wood, Tom Curran, Liam Livingstone.
