India vs England 2021, 2nd T20I: India’s Predicted XI

The hosts India are now ready to face the visitors England in the second game of the five-match T20I series at Narendra Modi Stadium (Motera, Ahmedabad) on Sunday (14th March) night.

Currently, England are leading this T20I series by 1-0 as they won the first T20I very comfortably by 8 wickets. The hosts will now try their best to make a good comeback in the forthcoming match.

India vs England 2021, 2nd T20I: India’s Predicted XI

Shikhar Dhawan

Opener Shikhar Dhawan scored only 4 runs in the last T20I. Though the left-handed batsman is currently in good form with the bat, he has to prove his consistency to save his place for the near future.

KL Rahul

The no.3-ranked T20I batsman KL Rahul scored only one run on his international return, which was his first match since last December T20I against the hosts Australia. Though Rahul was in very good form with the bat in recent times, the long non-match days can affect his natural game in the early days of his comeback.

Virat Kohli (C)

Captain Virat Kohli is facing little highs and big lows in the present days. In the last two innings, Kohli failed to open his accounts, which was his third duck in his last five international innings. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, as the captain clarified that the limited-overs vice-captain could be rested for the first two games of this series, Kohli’s batting performance is very crucial for the Indian team.

Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer was India’s only strong performer last Friday night. While all the home players struggled in the game, Iyer played a huge role in the batting line-up and secured at least the 100+ total. Iyer scored 67 runs off 48 balls in that innings where he hit 8 fours and the only sixer.

Rishabh Pant (wk)

The in-form wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant played a small role in the first T20I by scoring 21 runs but many are still impressed with him, especially due to his brave batting mindset. He is a good game-changer in any format.

Hardik Pandya

All-rounder Hardik Pandya finally made his comeback in the national team’s playing XI after more than three months. Hardik highly impressed in the last Australia tour, where he played huge roles with the bat in the limited-overs matches, including winning the Player of the Series award after India’s T20I series victory in that tour. In the opening game of the ongoing T20I series against the visitors England, Hardik scored 19 runs but put the crucial 54 runs partnership for the fifth wicket.

Shardul Thakur

While batsmen failed to score a good total in the first innings, pacer Shardul Thakur didn’t have many options. He is currently in good form with the ball in hand. Moreover, despite scoring a golden duck in the last game, Shardul is a very useful lower-order batsman due to his aggressive batting approach.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The right-arm pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar finally made his return to the national team in the last T20I, who played previously for the national team in December 2019. Now, he needs some time to pick up his old form and prove himself again.

Washington Sundar

In the last T20I match, the young off-spinner Washington Sundar took the wicket on his very first ball as he trapped the opener Jason Roy for lbw, who scored 49 runs. He can play various roles as a bowler in T20 cricket, including handling the powerplay in an economical way.

Navdeep Saini

The right-arm fast bowler Navdeep Saini missed the last T20I match. But he can be selected for the next game as his pace can work for the hosts, which England already proved in the last game. Saini also has good T20I records as he has taken 13 wickets in 10 T20Is.

Yuzvendra Chahal

In the last game, the leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal took his 60th T20I wicket after dismissing Jos Buttler and became India’s most T20I wicket-taker. He is a very important member of this limited-overs side.