Will Rishabh Pant get an international debut, will Virat Kohli open the innings and what will the bowling lineup look like? Those are some of the questions in terms of team news for India going into the 1st T20I against England on Republic Day.
India vs England 1st T20 live streaming information
Pant is one of the most exciting youngsters in India at the moment and this could be the perfect opportunity to give the left-hander a chance to see how he takes to international cricket.
With KL Rahul and Mandeep Singh being the other options, Kohli might even considering opening himself in this first match in Kanpur in order to accommodate all of the more experienced batsmen in the squad.
If Kohli does open, it will give Suresh Raina a chance to bat at his favourite No.3 position – Manish Pandey could play there as well – with Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni to follow. Kohli does have the experience of batting right at the top, having done that several times for RCB in the IPL, but there is little doubt that the captain's best position is No.3.
It is in that position that the great man has played one spectacular innings after another, so to tinker with the batting order in order to accommodate someone is fraught with danger. The better option might just be to give either Mandeep or Pant a chance to play alongside KL Rahul and see how that goes.
In the bowling, Ashish Nehra is expected to be named in the playing XI, which means only one of Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Jasprit Bumrah will play. Bumrah was quite poor in the ODIs against England, so Bhuvneshwar does have the edge in that regard.
Of the three spinners – Yuzvendra Chahal, Amit Mishra and Parvez Rasool – two are leg-spinners, so it will be interesting to see if Kohli plays them both, considering they are the two most potent options.
England are set to unleash the speedster Tymal Mills, who, Eoin Morgan will hope, will give them early wickets with his express pace. Chris Jordan could also come in, with David Willey ruled out of the first T20 through injury.
The key decision for England to make is whether to go with four fast bowlers again or bring Adil Rashid back, who sat out the last two ODIs.
Joe Root, who missed the third one-dayer with a niggle, has been passed fit and should come in to the playing XI, most likely, at the expense of Jonny Bairstow.
Confirmed playing XI:
India: KL Rahul, Virat Kohli (C), Manish Pandey, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Parvez Rasool, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ashish Nehra.
England: Sam Billings, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (C), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Tymal Mills.
