acegame888 India Vs England T20Is: Talking Points And Some Key Battles Ahead Of The Series

India head coach Gautam Gambhir with T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. Photo: X/BCCI India head coach Gautam Gambhir with T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav. Photo: X/BCCI

India and England will clash in a five-match T20I series which gets underway at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata from Wednesday. India are the current T20 World Cup champions and the number one ranked team in the format. England, on the other hand, are at number three. While Gautam Gambhir would hope for a reversal of fortunes after a couple of big defeats, the series would officially start the reign of Brendon McCullum as Head Coach in white-ball cricket for the Three Lions. (More Cricket News)

Both teams comprise of some world-class batters and power-hitters and the series promises to be a run-fest like never before! Flat tracks and short boundaries will only add to the domination of bat over ball in the series.

From Indias soaring run-rate to the firepower in England’s batting line-up, from Sanju Samon’s and Ravi Bishnoi’s form to the threat posed by Adil Rashid in the middle overs - we look at some of the talking points ahead of the five-match series.

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The correlation between India’s soaring run-rate and win percentage

India changed their approach at the top of the order under Rohit Sharma post their early exit from the 2021 T20 World Cup in the UAE. They adopted an all-out attack policy in the powerplay aimed at maximizing runs over conserving wickets. That brought them great dividend and ultimately led to the spectacular win at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean/USA.

Under the new coach – Gautam Gambhir – India have taken this template to new heights and are going ballistic in the first six overs. They have a run-rate of 9.2 in the powerplay post the 2024 T20 World Cup – a significant rise from their run-rate of 7.7 from the beginning of last year till the end of the World Cup.

progressive jackpot

India’s overall scoring rate has been on the surge post their triumph in the Caribbean. They have blasted their runs at a stunning run-rate of 10.05 – the highest amongst the major teams in the world – and have adopted an ultra-aggressive policy at the top of the order. They smashed 82 in the first six overs against Bangladesh in Hyderabad which is their joint-highest score in the powerplay in T20I cricket.

India have hit a boundary every 4.27 deliveries since the World Cup and have breached the 200-run mark on as many as seven (of 11) instances batting first. They blasted 297/6 against Bangladesh in Hyderabad which is the highest T20I total by a major cricket playing nation. India also piled on 283/1 against South Africa in Johannesburg which is the second-highest team total amongst the major cricketing powers in the world. India also have the best frequency of hitting sixes (10 sixes every match) in this time-frame.

It is not a mere coincidence then that India has won 13 of their 15 matches and have the second-highest win percentage of 86.7%, just marginally behind Australia (7 wins in 8 matches for a win percentage of 87.5%) in the last six months.

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Meanwhile, South Korea were knocked out by the defending champions, India, with a 1-4 defeat in the semi-final. In their pool stage encounter, South Korea had previously played to a 2-2 draw against their next opponent,ph222 Pakistan.

Samson – in rampaging form with the bat

Sanju Samson has been in sensational form with the bat post the World Cup and hammered 436 runs in just 11 innings at a strike rate of 181. His exploits include three hundreds in his last five T20I innings – at an average strike rate of 200+!

Samson has been particularly severe against the spinners and has taken them for 203 runs in just 99 deliveries at an average of 67.7 and strike rate of 205 in this time-frame.

Tilak Verma has also hammered two tons in four innings and scored at a rate of 198.6 while Abhishek Sharma (strike rate of 171.8), Yashasvi Jaiswal (170) and Suryakumar Yadav (169.1) have also scored at a blistering pace.

Who are the dangerous batters in the English line-up?

Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell have been in blistering form since the 2024 T20 World Cup all scoring in excess of 160 per hundred deliveries. Liam Livingstone is not far behind with a strike rate of almost 160 (159.66) in this time-frame.

Who will pose the biggest threat amongst the Indian spinners?Ravi Bishnoi is the leading wicket-taker for India (and the second-highest in the world) post 2024 the World Cup with 20 dismissals in 13 matches at a strike rate of 15 and economy of 6.94. He is likely to start in the playing XI along with Varun Chakravarthy who has also been in prime wicket-taking form in this period with 17 wickets in seven matches at a strike rate of 9.8.

Adil Rashid’s threat against left-handersAdil Rashid is the leading wicket-taker for England in T20Is since the start of 2023. He has a terrific record against left-handers and has average of 18.8, strike rate of 16.4 and economy of 6.9 against their ilk in all T20 cricket in this period. He can potentially pose a threat to the four left-handers in India’s top 7 – Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Rinku Singh and Axar Patel!

Arshdeep Singh – the leading wicket-taker in T20Is since 2023

Arshdeep Singh is the highest wicket-taker in the world (amongst the major cricket playing nations) in T20I cricket since the start of 2023. He has bagged a whopping 62 wickets in just 39 innings at a stunning strike rate of 12.9. The left-armer has been brilliant in the powerplay and in the death overs. While he has relied on his ability to swing the ball in the first six overs where he has bagged 26 wickets at an economy of 7.5, the yorker has been his most effective ball in the slog overs – Arshdeep has picked 32 wickets in this phase of play at a strike rate of 9.5.

The contrasting fortunes of the bowling attacks in the powerplay

England have had issues with leaking runs in the powerplay and are the most expensive bowling unit with an economy of 9.1 in the first six overs since the beginning of 2023. India, on the other hand, have been very restrictive in this phase of play with an economy of 7.2 – the second-best amongst the top T20I teams in the world.

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Buttler vs Shami and other interesting match-ups

Jos Buttler vs Mohammed Shami is expected to be a key battle in the powerplay. The two have faced each other on 11 occasions in all T20 cricket with Shami dismissing Buttler three times. Buttler has an average of 34 and strike rate of 139.7 against Shami.

Suryakumar Yadav vs Jofra Archer will be another key battle in the Indian innings. Archer has dismissed SKY twice in seven innings while giving away just 29 runs off 25 deliveries.

Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakravarthy could ask a few questions of Harry Brook who has fallen to leg spin three times in six T20I innings since 2023 at an average of just 14.3! He has also struggled against left-arm orthodox with three dismissals in 11 innings at a strike rate of just 100 and Axar Patel could trouble him in the middle overs. acegame888