The last T20 of the ongoing series will be played on 2nd February at Wankhede Stadium
Match Preview:
With a familiar theme from IPL 2024, new leadership and a homecoming at the legendary Wankhede Stadium, the India-England T20I series is coming to an exciting conclusion in Mumbai.
After replacing Rohit Sharma as captain of the Mumbai Indians last year, Hardik Pandya had to put in a lot of effort to win over the Mumbai public. However, since Suryakumar Yadav will be leading India for the first time on his home ground, there won’t be any conflict this time.
With 1,493 runs (the second-most by any hitter), a strike rate of 156.66, and an average of more than 38 in T20s, Wankhede has been his happy hunting ground. He scored two fifties and a century at this location, despite having three ducks throughout an uneven IPL 2024 season.
However, by his own high T20I standards, Suryakumar is in an unexpected slump as he takes the field at home. In four games this series, he has only mustered 26 runs, including two ducks, and has gone seven straight innings without a half-century, his longest such skid.
His extremely aggressive style from the first ball has contributed to this poor run, but Ryan ten Doeschate, India’s assistant coach, has dismissed worries, claiming that consistency isn’t what makes a team in Twenty20 cricket.
Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, and Brydon Carse have been England’s hit-the-deck pacers in this series, taking advantage of the hard distances to put Suryakumar under pressure. He has generally fallen to short and hard-length balls, with the exception of one easy dismissal in Pune, where he chipped a full delivery to a fielder.
In an attempt to ruin Suryakumar’s homecoming, England will try to maintain their winning formula in the final match. India, meanwhile, is determined to win the series with a decisive 4-1 triumph.
Playing XI
India (probable XI): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Ramandeep Singh/Harshit Rana, 9 Arshdeep Singh/Mohammed Shami, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
England (probable XI): 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jos Buttler (capt), 4 Harry Brook, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Jamie Smith/Jacob Bethell, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Jofra Archer/Gus Atkinson, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Adil Rashid/Rehan Ahmed
Pitch and weather report:
The Wankhede Stadium may have dew, and the temperature is predicted to be in the mid-20s. In the IPL 2024, teams were able to successfully defend a target in four of the seven games, although teams batting first have only won three of the eight Twenty20 Internationals played here. Most recently, chasing teams won eight of 14 games in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. The competition at the location had an average score of 145.
Head-to-head record:
Out of their 28T20 encounters, India has emerged victorious 16 times, including their most recent meeting in the semifinals of the 2024 T20 World Cup in Guyana. England has secured wins in the remaining 12 matches
Prediction:
India is favourite to win the last T20 of the series
Where to watch:
India: Disney-plus Hotstar
England: Sky Sports
Pakistan: Tapmad
Others: Cric HD
