Ind vs Eng T20I: Virat Kohli’s India men have a golden opportunity to replace England as the No 1 team in ICC T20I rankings when they face the visitors in a five-match T20I series beginning Friday in Ahmedabad. All India need is a 4-1 result in the series.
With Australia’s series 2-3 series loss to New Zealand, they slumped to third place on the ranking table with 267 points. India moved up to the second spot with 268 points. But if India beat England 4-1 or sweep it clean 5-0 in the series, they will have 272 points while Eoin Morgan’s men will move to second place with 269 points.
However, it is going to be difficult for India as England last lost a T20I series back in 2018. But since the series loss came against India at home, India could topple the table topper. India won the three-match series 2-1.
Also read: Ind vs Eng T20I series: India and England’s trial run for mission ICC T20 World Cup 2021
But rankings aside, it will be a test for both teams who will likely begin their preparation for the T20 World Cup in October. The five-match series will be their best opportunity to iron out their combinations and get the team ready.
England lead in individual rankings
In terms of individual rankings, England will have Dawid Malan, who is the world’s No 1 T20I batsman. But India’s KL Rahul, at No 3, is not far behind and in the form, he is in, he could eclipse Malan in the series with some good knocks.
India also have its skipper Virat Kohli at No 6 and after not enjoying a great scoring form, he will be eager to hit top gear, especially before the IPL 2021 begins on April 9. As for England, they still have Eoin Morgan. In the bowling department, England will have an advantage with Adil Rashid at No 5 of T20I bowlers’ rankings.
When and where are India vs England T20I matches?
1st T20I: March 12, 7 PM at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad
2nd T20I: March 14, 7 PM at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad
3rd T20I: March 16, 7 PM at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad
4th T20I: March 18, 7 PM at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad
5th T20I: March 20, 7 PM at Motera Stadium, Ahmedabad
Ind vs Eng T20I 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.
