🏏India XI vs England XI:1st T20I AT Southampton 🏏

🏏India XI vs England XI:1st T20I AT Southampton 🏏

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India and England will face each other in the 1st T20I on today at 10:30 pm IST in The Rose Bowl, Southampton.

England has lost only one T20I series on their home soil after 2017 and it is against India in 2018.

India has a 19-5 win-loss record in the T20Is played after 2021. India and England have an 8-8 win-loss record in bilateral T20I matches.

England won the rescheduled 5th Test match by 7 wickets and went on to level the series 2-2.

Now, both teams will move to the T20I format, and the Test result will have very little bearing on this match as no player in the Test squad from either side is set to play this match.

Both teams are out there to test their bench strength and find the right balance in their squad ahead of the 2022 T20I World Cup later this year.

India has been dominating the T20I circuit off late, and England’s only nemesis in T20Is has been India on their home ground.

Thank you for the tag❤️ Go India🥳

Southampton😲 my hubby works there😆

Pitch report --

A pleasant evening with no rain forecast. The average first-innings score at the venue in this year's T20 Blast has been 165.

Curiously, five of the seven games here this season have been won by teams batting first. It's a statistic India will keep a close eye on.

Their win percentage is a lowly 54.84 while batting first in the last three years. In the same time, they've won 95% (18/19) of the games they've chased.

Possible XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh/Avesh Khan/Umran Malik, Yuzvendra Chahal

Possible XI: Jos Buttler (c&wk), Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Harry Brook, Sam Curran/David Willey, Richard Gleeson, Chris Jordan/Reece Topley/Tymal Mills, Matthew Parkinson

It is the reality of the looming World Cup that India are close to being back at full strength for a T20I series that starts two days after a grueling Test match.

Well almost. Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli will be available only from the second game of the series but that aside, the rest of the squad has been hard at work with a sense of urgency that build-ups to bilateral T20Is otherwise lack in non-World Cup years.

The two all-rounders - Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone - in the England line-up will allow Buttler to play both Phil Salt and Harry Brook or play an extra bowler.

Sam Curran has been in terrific hitting form in domestic cricket and could make his T20I return after more than a year out with a back injury.

Lancashire's Richard Gleeson is in line for a T20I debut. He comes in with a reputation of unfurling yorkers at will. He has taken 23 wickets from 14 games at an economy of 7.83 in the ongoing T20 Blast.

England have a number of first-choice bowlers unavailable and will chop and change the ones available for the three games.

India is one of the strongest teams across formats on the international circuit and has great success as a touring team across conditions.

They will miss a few key players who will be rested for the first T20I for playing the Test match prior to the T20I series but still have a very good squad capable of beating any team.

England too has a good squad, and they will miss the likes of Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes in this squad.

They have home conditions to their advantage and will look to continue their good form in the T20Is.

Their batters can chase down any target on their day. India is expected to win this match owing to its consistent run of form and vast experience in T20Is.

- India have picked at least two wickets inside Powerplay in seven of their last nine matches, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the way with 13 PowerPlay wickets.

- Since the start of T20 WC 2021, England concede at 11.73 RPO in the death - the worst amongst full member sides with Chris Jordan's form (ER 11.38) being of particular concern

- Jos Buttler averages 57.20 and strikes at 148.76 as opener in T20Is, numbers very similar to those he churned out during his stellar IPL 2022 (Avg 57.53, SR 149.05)

- India have won each of the last three bilateral T20I series between these two sides.

Rohit Sharma has cleared his Covid tests and will return to captaincy and share opening duties alongside Ishan Kishan. India are likely to play the centurion from last game, Deepak Hooda, at least for the first game before Kohli returns for the second. They have choices to make in the fast bowling department and could hand Arshdeep Singh an India debut after a pair of impressive showings against County sides.

The two all-rounders - Moeen Ali and Liam Livingstone - in the England line-up will allow Buttler to play both Phil Salt and Harry Brook or play an extra bowler. Sam Curran has been in terrific hitting form in domestic cricket and could make his T20I return after more than a year out with a back injury. Lancashire's Richard Gleeson is in line for a T20I debut. He comes in with a reputation of unfurling yorkers at will. He has taken 23 wickets from 14 games at an economy of 7.83 in the ongoing T20 Blast. England have a number of first-choice bowlers unavailable and will chop and change the ones available for the three games.

Did you know?

- India have picked at least two wickets inside Powerplay in seven of their last nine matches, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar leading the way with 13 PowerPlay wickets.

- Since the start of T20 WC 2021, England concede at 11.73 RPO in the death - the worst amongst full member sides with Chris Jordan's form (ER 11.38) being of particular concern

- Jos Buttler averages 57.20 and strikes at 148.76 as opener in T20Is, numbers very similar to those he churned out during his stellar IPL 2022 (Avg 57.53, SR 149.05)

- India have won each of the last three bilateral T20I series between these two sides.