With an amazing close win over England in the second T20 at Nagpur, India will face England at Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium on February 1, 2017 for the 3rd and the final match of the series.
Indian batting still looks a problem. Players like Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey and Hardik Pandya should fire in the last match of the series. Their bowlers did a good job. India won the 2nd T20 because of their wonderful bowling effort. Jasprit Bumrah and veteran Ashish Nerhra were amazing. Amit Mishra and Chahal supported the pacers well.
For England their spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson conceded runs. But Moen Ali is having a wonderful T20 series. He is the economical spin bowler for England.
Their pacers are doing a fine job. Chris Jordan, Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills are bowling the tight line and length to the Indian batsmen. These pace bowlers are able to restrict in batting power of India on regular basis.
However, their batting was a cause concern in the second T20 match. They too have problems facing the short balls. Nehra and Bumrah used short balls to good effect. They were able to fox the English batsmen by bowling variety of deliveries.
England also is over depending on opening starts from Jason Roy and Sam BiIlings. They are also depending on Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgon, Jos Buttler and Moen Ali to play the big shots. Joe Root hasn’t been comfortable playing those big fours and sixes when the teams need him to. This is the weakness that can give India another series win over England. India should exploit this weak link.
Meanwhile, England will be playing their first T20 game at Bangalore’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium. They have played One Day International Matches here but have not played any T20 games.
India have played two matches here in 2012 to 2016. They won one and lost one. India lost against Pakistan and won against Bangladesh in a trilling manner.
The team who have fielded first have won 3 games out of 4 played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium and therefore the toss might be the deciding factor.
India are favourites to win this match and take the 2-1. But England can’t be ruled out of this competition. The visitors also have a balance side. They are a good T20 side and Eoin Morgon is leading the team well.
India should include Rishab Pant instead of Manish Pandey. The youngster should get a chance. Meanwhile, England should drop Liam Dawson as he was too expensive in the previous match. David Willey could be a good replacement.
India’s Likely Squad
1.Virat Kohli (C), 2.KL Rahul, 3.Suresh Raina, 4.Yuvraj Singh, 5.MS Dhoni, 6.Rishab Pant, 7.Hardik Pandya, 8.Yuvendra Chahal, 9.Amit Mishra, 10.Jasprit Bumrah and 11.Ashish Nehra.
England’s likely playing XI -
1.Eion Morgan (C), 2.Sam Bilings, 3.Jason Roy, 4.Joe Root, 5.Jos Buttler, 6.Moen Ali, 7.Adil Rashid, 8.Chris Jordan, 9.Ben Stokes, 10.Tymal Mills and 11.David Willey.
Starting Time - 7:00 IST local time & 13:30 GMT