After an excellent performance in the first T20 on Thursday, England have the chance to win the series against India when the two sides meet in the second T20 of the three in Nagpur on Sunday.
India were poor in the first game and they will know if they are to keep the series alive and force a decider they simply have to win this game else the final match will be a dead rubber.
India
It won’t have taken India long to work out where it went wrong in the first game. Their batting was woeful and they never at any stage looked like putting up enough runs to win. If that doesn’t change they are in trouble but it might be that we see them chase if they win the toss as they look more comfortable doing that.
The spinners pulled things back as much as they could given that they were defending a nothing total but their seamers got a bit of a flogging and that is only going to put further pressure on their batsmen. One of the reasons their batting was so bad in the first game was a lack of depth and they could do with resolving that going forward.
England
Eoin Morgan called England’s performance in the first T20 as a near complete performance and it is hard to argue with that. What was really impressive was that at no stage in the 20 overs that they bowled was there a release for the Indian batsmen and when you think Adil Rashid never bowled an over in that match that is a good position for England to be in.
England’s batting always looks like it is going to stand up to the test in this format. They got home with overs to spare in the first match with Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali barely getting the pads on let alone going out to the middle. All of that should make England very confident for the rest of this series.
Team News
You would think India have got to rethink things. With Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh in the side they can afford to play the extra batsman which could see Rishabh Pant comes into the side. Amit Mishra could also play.
England are unlikely to make any changes unless they decide to play an extra seamer instead of Adil Rashid. On this bigger ground though you would think that is unlikely.
Betting
India have to make changes but on the evidence of the first match there is an awful big gulf between these two sides. Initially I thought this series was going to be a chasers paradise but that first match got me thinking otherwise.
India lack depth in their batting and their death bowling is horrible and I don’t see how that can change in the space of three days and there is nothing in their squad to come in and really improve that.
England are fearless in this format of the game and I expect them to back up that first game win by nailing the series here at the first time of asking.
Tips
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