ICC T20I Rankings leaders clash as India, England lock horns with an eye on T20 World Cup

Overview
India v England, 1st T20I
Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
12 March; 7pm local time, 1.30pm GMT

The series pits the top two teams in the world against one another, with England the current occupants of the ICC’s No.1 ranking in T20I cricketand India sitting just below.

They could swap spots by the end of this series.A 4-1 series win or better for India will see them rise to the top spot on the ladder, with England slipping down.

Given England’s last T20I series loss came way back in 2018, India will have to be at their very best to win the series that comfortably.

Rankings aside, a series win for either team will be a boost for their confidence ahead of this year’s ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in India. They will both be considered among the frontrunners for the trophy when the tournament commences.

Victory for England will show them they have the right stuff to win in India. Similarly, victory for India will reaffirm to Virat Kohli’s team they can beat the very best.

And the series won’t be short of star power either. In Dawid Malan, England have the top-ranked T20I batsman in the world, while captain Eoin Morgan sits 10th. In reply, India have third-placed KL Rahul and sixth-placed Kohli. Throw in the likes of Rohit Sharma, Ben Stokes, Rishabh Pant, Jos Buttler and Hardik Pandya, and the series should not be short of fireworks with the bat.

Not that it’ll be an easy series for the batters, with bowlers of the calibre of Adil Rashid – fifth on the ICC’s T20I bowling rankings – Jofra Archer, Yuzvendra Chahal, and the returning Bhuvneshwar Kumar all involved.

Remember last time

England’s most recent T20I series defeat was actually against India. That was in 2018. They have lost their past two bilateral T20I series against India, with their last series victory against them coming in 2014.

The 2018 encounter in England was split 2-1 with Rohit named Player of the Series for his 137 runs at 68.50. One hundred of those runs came in the series decider at Bristol. Another century at the start of the campaign from Rahul had earlier given India the lead before England bounced back to win the second match.

Look out for

Virat Kohli– The star batter is on track to become the first men’s player to ever score 3000 T20I runs this series. He currently has 2928 to his name and it’d be a surprise if he did not fly past the 3000-mark against England.

India have only played three T20Is in the past 12 months, but with a home T20 World Cup around the corner, they’ll be looking to build up a head of steam. Expect the India captain to lead by example with the bat.

Dawid Malan – Malan sits atop the ICC T20I men’s batting rankings for a reason. He has scored more runs than anyone in the world in the format in the past 12 months, and he has been both reliable and aggressive. His 386 runs in that time have come at an average of 55.14 and strike rate of 144.56.

He averaged 86.50 in England’s last T20I series, passing 50 in two of his free innings, with a high score of 99*.

Fixtures1st T20I: 12 March, 7pm at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
2nd T20I: 14 March, 7pm at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
3rd T20I: 16 March, 7pm at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
4th T20I: 18 March, 7pm at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
5th T20I: 20 March, 7pm at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

Squads

India: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Navdeep Saini, Rahul Tewatia, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Suryakumar Yadav

England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood