No Alex Hales or James Vince, a battle for T20 batting supremacy and India’s missing quick – the talking points ahead of England’s five-match T20 series against India
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Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, last year’s T20 World Cup has been rearranged for autumn 2021 and moved location from Australia to India. The timing of England’s five-match away series, therefore, couldn’t be better.
It’s the perfect opportunity for England’s full strength squad to test themselves against the tournament’s early favourites in World Cup conditions and get a feel for the new stadium in Ahmedabad. And, on current form, they should head into the series high on confidence.
England are the number one-ranked side in the game’s shortest format and won eight of their 12 T20I matches in 2020. Eoin Morgan’s team haven’t lost a bilateral series since summer 2018 (coincidentally against India) and barely broke a sweat in their most recent outing – a comfortable 3-0 whitewash of South Africa in November.
However, their hosts are unlikely to roll over. Virat Kohli’s side are second in the ICC rankings and will be keen to protect their impressive five-series winning streak. A 12-run defeat against Australia in December was the only blot on their copybook in 2020, with India winning seven of their 11 matches (two ties, one no result, one defeat) last year.
India have won the last two series between the sides, most recently a 2-1 victory in England in 2018. However, England have won three of their six encounters on Indian soil and reached the T20 World Cup final in the country in 2016, making this series too close to call.
The two captains: Eoin Morgan (L) and Virat Kohli (R)
There are very few players in better T20 form than Alex Hales and James Vince.
Since England’s last T20 outing against South Africa, the duo have amassed a combined 1,393 runs across the Big Bash and the now postponed Pakistan Super League, finishing first (Hales) and second (Vince) in the former’s Golden Bat standings.
Hales, in particular, is in scintillating form. The 32-year old, broke the record for the most sixes in a single BBL season (30) and scored a 56-ball 110 against Sydney Sixers to become the first Englishman to record a century in the tournament’s history. Vince, meanwhile, hit four half-centuries – including two 90+ totals in the playoffs – to steer Sixers to the title.
However, neither man has played a T20 for England since 2019 – poor form did for Vince, a failed drug test for Hales - and they were once again overlooked for the India series.
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Of the 16 players selected, only four– Liam Livingstone, Jason Roy, Sam Billings and Dawid Malan – have played a T20 match in 2021. Meanwhile, regular opener Jonny Bairstow is likely to be low on confidence after his sub-par performances against India’s bowlers in the Test arena. If any of England’s players show signs of rustiness during the series, Morgan and co may be forced to question their decision to leave Hales and Vince out in the cold.
Three players grabbed the headlines during India’s red-ball demolition of England: Ravi Ashwin, Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel. Ashwin is out of the equation for the T20 series – he hasn’t played a white-ball international since July 2017 – but for Pant and Patel, it is an unmissable opportunity to establish themselves as two of India’s leading multi-format players.
23-year old Pant has played 28 T20Is for India, scoring 410 runs at an average of 20.50 and a strike rate of 121.66 - hardly standout numbers. However, he contributed 343 runs to Delhi Capitals’ run to last season's IPL final, outscoring seasoned white-ball players like Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Kieron Pollard.
If you need any more confirmation of his ball-striking skills, look no further than his century in the fourth Test: confident and counterattacking, he needed just 33 balls to convert his 50 into 100 and had the audacity to reverse sweep Jimmy Anderson.
He may struggle to usurp KL Rahul with the gloves but as a batsman in electric touch, he may shine in the middle-order.
Rishabh Pant (L) and Axar Patel (R) pose with the trophy following India’s 3-1 Test series win
Patel, meanwhile, made his T20 debut back in July 2015 and played 11 matches over the next two and half years before losing his spot. Like Pant, the bowling allrounder had an impressive IPL in 2020, taking nine wickets and posting an economy of 6.41 for Delhi. He made an immediate impact in the Test side and poses a big threat, both on the pitch and in his opponents’ heads.
Unsurprisingly, as two of the top three T20 sides, India and England have their fair share of players in and around the top 10 of the ICC T20 batting rankings. And, in the top three are England's Dawid Malan (first) and India's KL Rahul (third).
Malan, a top-order batsman, is only 145 runs shy of 1,000 in an England shirt despite playing just 19 T20Is. The 33-year old averages 53.43 on the international stage, strikes the ball at an astonishing rate of 149.47 and has scored one century and nine half-centuries to date.
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Wicketkeeper-opener Rahul, meanwhile, has 45 matches and 1,542 runs under his belt – comparatively poor next to Malan. However, in 2020, the 28-year old scored 404 runs in 10 innings (including three consecutive half-centuries) for India and a tournament-leading 670 runs for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL. Against England, Rahul has 227 runs in six matches, including a huge 101 not out at Old Trafford in 2018.
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A huge blow for India ahead of this series is the absence of fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. The 27-year old, currently 8th in the T20 Player Index, has 59 wickets in 50 internationals and was the second-highest wicket-taker in last season’s IPL (29 wickets in 15 matches) behind Kagiso Rabada. However, he has been rested for the upcoming bilateral series, depriving India of one of their most potent bowlers.
So who will take his place? Bhuvneshwar Kumar and allrounder Hardik Pandya are the most experienced bowlers with 41 wickets (43 matches) and 38 wickets (43 matches), respectively. However, neither of them can replicate the express pace of Bumrah while Kumar hasn’t played for India since December 2019.
Elsewhere, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Navdeep Saini have only played a combined 40 T20Is – although Chahar is guardian of the best bowling figures in international cricket (6/7 versus Bangladesh in 2019). Perhaps their best hope is T Natarajan. The 29-year old only made his debut against Australia in December but took six wickets and bowled with an economy of 6.91. Options for Kohli but no guaranteed match winners.
His counterpart, Morgan, also faces a fast-bowling headache. 90mph talisman Jofra Archer is plagued by an elbow injury and head coach, Chris Silverwood, has confirmed it is something England will have to manage. If he’s unavailable or only capable of bowling a couple of overs, the pressure will be on Chris Jordan, the Currans and, in particular, Mark Wood to step up in his place.
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