In the final Group A match of the ICC T20 World Cup, India will take on defending champions England to decide who tops the points table. Both teams have qualified for the Super Eight stage but will be looking to get the winning momentum behind them.
However, the match will hold much more importance to India compared to the Englishmen. MS Dhoni’s men were stretched by the Afghans and that exposed some of their weak links which the 2007 champions will have to take care of if they want to repeat the success they tasted in the inaugural event.
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India vs England head-to-head
Matches Played 4: England 3, India 1
Highest Team Total: India 218/4
Indian Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Irfan Pathan,
Ravichandran Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Ashok Dinda, Rohit Sharma, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Manoj Tiwary.
England Squad: Stuart Broad (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex
Hales, Craig Kieswetter, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Graeme Swann, Luke Wright.
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Indian captain MS Dhoni ahead of the match said that he would like every player to have played a game before the Super Eights and that means that one might see some changes in the Indian squad. India are reluctant to play five bowlers and that might not change in this match as well.
Harbhajan Singh might get a look-in in place of one of the seamers. Irfan Pathan is most likely to make the way to Zaheer as he has been out of form and Dhoni will like to give him one more opportunity knowing the fact how important he is for India’s cause. L Balaji was the best pacer against Afghanistan and is most likely to be rewarded for his efforts. R Ashwin has been India’s best bowler of late and Dhoni will not take a chance by resting him.
It will be interesting to see how the Indian spinners cope on the pitch that offers nothing to the pacemen. Dhoni will know that his spinners have a better chance to succeed against the English batsmen compared to his faster bowlers.
There shouldn't be much change in the Indian batting order. Sehwag and Gambhir are struggling and Dhoni will look to give them as much opportunity as possible to get back to form before India reaches the Super Eights.
Rohit Sharma is most likely to hold on to his place, going by the form he displayed in the warm-up games and getting Manoj Tiwary into the ranks will be difficult for skipper Dhoni.
England team will not worry too much going into the match. They had a perfect outing against Afghanistan and that will keep them relaxed. Their young batsmen played well and all their bowlers came to the party. The pitch will also suit England more than the Indian team.
The match should see a tough battle between Indian batting against a strong English bowling attack. England have some tall fast-bowlers in their ranks and they can really trouble the Indian batsmen on a fresh pitch. They also have Graeme Swann who is a brilliant bowler against left-handers and has troubled Indian batsmen in the past. The team which will win this battle will top the group.
By Gaurav Jha
Indian Sports News Network
