The T20 Series Between India And England Is A Trial Run In The Build-Up To World Cup

India and England have locked horns in the five-match T20 series that starts today. Both the teams are looking to firm up plans for the World Cup in October. The bowlers have dominated in the test series between India and England. But it is the right time for the batsman to hold their bats like a rapier and have all the bowlers at their mercy in the five-match test-series that is going to start on Friday in Ahmadabad. England may have been defeated thoroughly in the recent test series but in white-ball formats, the team is a different beast, especially in the T20s. In the ICC T20I rankings, it is the top-ranked side. Both the teams are coming to the series with a great track record in T20. In their last eight T20 series, the English team is unbeaten and for India, it is the last seven series.

The last T20 series by England came way back in 2018. Interestingly, it was against India. England was defeated in the last two bilateral series that were against the Indian team. The last series victory was registered in 2014.

In the ICC rankings, India is only second after England. This is a clash between the one and two and it is going to be mouth-watering stuff for the fans. A series win by either team will most importantly be a confidence booster ahead of the T20 World Cup this year. The World Cup is scheduled to be held in India in October and November.

Both the teams are looking to plug the missing gaps in both their respective squads before the start of the World Cup.

The Indian team is pretty keen on increasing their power game as the team will see quite a few names in their jersey. Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, from the Mumbai Indians team, have been given a well-deserved chance to play for the country. Ishan and Suryakumar might not get a match right away but their number will also come in due course.

The Indian team has brought back Risabh Pant in the white-ball scheme of things. With players like Pant, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar, and Ishan the team is going to get the nitro boost that is very much needed in the middle-order.

The surprise package from the last IPL, Rahul Tewatia is also part of the squad. He is a hard-hitting batsman and a very handy leg-spinner. The team management of India is very much sure to check the all-round skills of Tewatia at the international level.

There is also a debate about the opening partner for Rohit. It could be either Dhawan or KL Rahul. India got robust starts from the Sharma-Rahul opening duo and they are in a dilemma whether to replace the opening partnership with the Rohit- Dhawan opening combination. Probably Rahul is going to be the partner for Rohit as Dhawan might miss out.