India are a different machine when it comes to limited-overs cricket, that much was made clear in the five-match ODI series. However, after picking up a morale-boosting victory in the final one-day international on Friday, albeit a dead rubber, England will look to continue that momentum when they "host" India in a one-off T20 international at Edgbaston.
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The only T20I is set for a 3 pm local time (7.30 pm IST, 10 am ET) start with live coverage on TV on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3 (in Hindi) and Star Sports HD1 in India. The match can also be watched via free live streaming online in India HERE.
The match will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports 2, while viewers can also Live Stream the match in the UK HERE or HERE. Listen to the T20 match via BBC Radio 5 Live HERE. The game will be live on ESPN3 in the US, while the action can also be Live Streamed HERE.
While Birmingham might seem like in England, once the players walk out it will be India who will essentially be the home team, as Edgbaston will yet again be dominated by Indian fans.
Which team dominates the match remains to be seen, though, with form pointing towards India, who will wear the same look as the ODI side, while England will have several fresh faces in their lineup, even if they will look to that convincing 5th ODI victory at Headingley a couple of days back, when Joe Root struck form with the bat, while the bowlers backed them up to keep India from chasing down a big total.
"For us to stand up, and for Joe to put in the extremely skilful performance that he did -- in difficult circumstances and given the situation when he came in -- it was exceptional," said England's T20 skipper Eoin Morgan, who is under pressure to score runs after a poor ODI series.
"Guys can take a lot of confidence from that. It's great to see him scoring runs the way he does -- because when he scores runs, we win games."
India are a formidable unit in T20, with all of those IPL skills coming to the fore in the shortest format of the game. If the openers – Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane – get off to a strong start, India will invariably find themselves on course for a victory – either by posting a big total, or chasing down a big score.
Chasing is India's strength nowadays, and MS Dhoni asked England to bat first all three times he won the toss in the ODI series. The India skipper, most probably, will again send England in, if he calls correctly.
"We have historically been a side who likes to put runs on the board and when the opposition chase it down, we blame the bowlers," Dhoni said.
"In the last few years we have changed that. We have chased pretty well irrespective of where we have played. At times, we haven't put up a lot of runs batting first but we have chased well consistently.
"But we can't say we are comfortable only chasing or batting first. We have to be able to adapt ourselves according to the wicket, opposition and weather conditions."
While India have seen their batting and bowling mesh together pretty well in limited-overs cricket, England need that to happen a lot more often. Friday was a good example of the batsmen standing up, putting runs on the board, before the bowlers did their jobs exceedingly well.
Morgan will certainly hope England have one of those everything-went-right days again.
Team news: England: Jason Roy is set to make his debut for England at the top of the order, after impressing in domestic cricket this season. Tim Bresnan will not be available for selection after failing to overcome a shoulder injury.
India: It looks likely that India will go with pretty much the same XI that performed so well in the ODIs. Umesh Yadav was not too impressive in the 5th one-dayer on Friday, and the burly fast bowler might make way for Dhawal Kulkarni. But, it remains unlikely that Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson and Karn Sharma will get a game.
Expected lineups: England: Alex Hales, Jason Roy, Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Ravi Bopara, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, James Tredwell, Steven Finn.
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Dhawal Kulkarni.
