CHENNAI: After laying down a marker in the series opener, India have a spring in their step moving into the second T20I against England on Saturday.
India, playing a fearless brand of cricket, have been nearly unstoppable in the shortest format ever since head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Suryakumar Yadav joined forces. While Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa were decimated, England, under their new chief coach-captain combination of Brendon McCullum and Jos Buttler, are making an attempt to crack the Indian T20 code.
England gave a poor ac count of themselves when trying to stop the Indian juggernaut in Kolkata, where the Men in Blue strolled to victory. The visitors should dish out a much-improved show in the remainder of the five-match assignment to pose any sort of a challenge to the high-flying hosts, beginning with Saturday’s clash. Here are some of the talking points for the Chennai fixture:
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Shami needs time in the middle
Returning speedster Mohammed Shami will once again be a point of focus, after being surprisingly left out of the XI for the first game.
Since there are only seven competitive fixtures left—four T20Is and three ODIs—ahead of the Champions Trophy, the team management does not have plenty of time to hand Shami a sustained run in the build-up to the global event. But if the thinktank decides to stick with the idea of having just one frontline pacer and three specialist spinners—Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi—Shami may have to warm the bench again.
Shami, wearing a protective gear on his knees, appeared fine on the eve of the encounter, operating along with pace colleague Arshdeep Singh.
Can tourists tackle spin pack?
Spin is likely to have a say on a fresh black-soil Chepauk pitch. Considering the England batters’ issues against quality spin, India’s slow-bowling department will eye another feast in favourable conditions.
“Back in Chennai in blues, I see it as a very important day for me. Playing for my country and in front of my parents and the home crowd will be very special. We will have certain plans, but I will also look to be instinctive depending on the situation. My role is to be aggressive and brave… keep bowling to the stumps,” said Varun on Friday.
Can Abhishek seal his spot?
With Suryakumar recently reaffirming that Sanju Samson is the first-choice wicketkeeper, opener Abhishek Sharma has a lot riding on his performances.
Abhishek will have a direct competitor once Yashasvi Jaiswal is back in the T20 scheme of things and must continue to deliver the goods to strengthen his case. The 24-year-old has recently let his willow do the talking with impactful knocks, including the free-flowing 79 on Wednesday.
What can Eng do differently?
England must find a method to succeed while retaining their aggressive style of play. Making moves to square the series, England have roped in fast bowler Brydon Carse for Gus Atkinson, the pacer who was taken to the cleaners last game.
