India’s well-oiled T20 team is set to take on a stunned England in the second game of the five-match series in Chennai on Saturday, unruffled by the lingering fitness concerns surrounding Mohammed Shami. The hosts lead the series 1-0 after a comfortable seven-wicket victory at Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
The inclusion of Shami in the playing eleven will depend on further evaluation of his fitness, despite his active involvement in the nets. The management possibly wanted to take a deeper look at his readiness before his comeback.
However, India did not miss Shami much in Kolkata, thanks to impressive spells by pacer Arshdeep Singh with the new ball and spinner Varun Chakravarthy in the middle phase, which wrecked England’s batting.
The Chepauk pitch could offer more assistance to the spinners, as it often has been the case in the past, but India would not be complaining whatever be the nature of the track. The home side boasts of quality and variety in their spin department, consisting of Varun, vice-captain Axar Patel, and Ravi Bishnoi.
England, on the other hand, would require much better contributions from experienced spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone to challenge the Indians. Apart from pacer Jofra Archer, none of the other English bowlers could survive the onslaught of Abhishek Sharma and the mini cameo of Sanju Samson in the first match.
Since coming together in the T20Is last year, Samson and Abhishek have had considerable success, often giving India a flying start. In Kolkata, Abhishek hurt England with a brutal knock, striking at over 230.
Samson has three hundreds in the last six innings, and it would not be unrealistic to imagine these two as the first-choice openers once India hit the road to next year’s T20 World Cup at home. They also offer that rare right-hand-left-hand combination at the top.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav will be mindful of the fact that he has just two fifties in the previous 11 innings after the T20 World Cup final last year. Further distilled, the stats will show that he has made no significant contributions in the last three matches, including a three-ball duck at Kolkata.
But such things often get papered over when the team is on a roll, as the reigning T20 World Champions have steamrolled Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and South Africa in their last three assignments. However, he would not want to miss the party for long and will be eyeing a fruitful outing in Chennai.
India is unlikely to make major changes to their lineup, given that the series is just one match old. If Mohammed Shami is deemed fit for his international comeback since the 2023 World Cup final, Nitish Kumar Reddy might make way for him.
Considering the nature of the Chepauk pitch, two-time world champions England might bolster their spin attack by including young leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed.
The visitors have made a like-for-like replacement, bringing in right-arm pacer Brydon Carse for Gus Atkinson.
They have also added wicketkeeper Jamie Smith to their 12-player squad as a contingency for Jacob Bethell, who is unwell. Smith could feature in the playing XI if Bethell does not recover in time.
Squads:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk).
England: Jos Buttler (c), Ben Duckett, Philip Salt (wicketkeeper), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Match starts at 7 pm.
