4th T20I: In must-win game, India aim to negate toss factor against England | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: India would aim to take the toss out of equation and put up a much improved all-round show against a formidable England in their to bid to level the series in the fourth Twenty20, here on Thursday.
The template of win the toss and bowl has been set in the series with the chasing team getting home rather comfortably.
However, India skipper Virat Kohli has repeatedly stressed on the need to do well whether they are posting totals or chasing as part of their preparation for the T20 World Cup at home later this year.

In the two games they lost after batting first, India struggled in the powerplay, which impacting their final total despite one batsman (Shreyas Iyer and Virat Kohli respectively) going on to make a significant contribution.
A lot of it was down to KL Rahul not being amongst the runs but Kohli made it amply clear that the Karnataka batsman and Rohit Sharma remain their preferred opening combination.
“If you look at his stats in the last 2-3 years, they are probably better than anyone in T20. He will continue to be one of our main batters along with Rohit at the top of the order. We don’t have any concerns there,” said Kohli.
The express pace of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer has also made life tough for the Indians in the first six overs. They have been able to extract disconcerting bounce from the surface, putting the batsmen in two minds.

Going by Kohli’s words post the third game, a third all-rounder alongside Hardik Pandya and Washington Sundar can be drafted into the side with the choice between uncapped Rahul Tewatia and Axar Patel.
Unlike the first game, Kohli’s sublime 77 ensure India did have some runs to defend but the bowlers hardly troubled the opposition batsmen with Jos Buttler running away with the contest.
The team’s number one spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has leaked runs both times India have set a target.
Hardik Pandya’s return as a bowling all-rounder has been promising but he is yet to take a wicket. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has kept things tidy in his comeback series but the team expects him to provide regular breakthroughs with the new ball.
Offie Washington Sundar has been the stand out bowler for India with four wickets at an impressive economy rate of 6.95.
Despite India being 1-2 down, no major changes are expected in the playing eleven.
England, like India, also want to win in all conditions and will be buoyed by their emphatic win in the previous game.
Buttler being amongst the runs is also a cause of worry for India as on his day he can demolish any attack in the world.
Jonny Bairstow, who had a horror run in the two Tests he played against India, came up with a morale boosting 40* on Tuesday.
Now England are waiting for the world’s number one batsman Dawid Malan to fire.
It will take a special effort from India to stop the number one ranked team from winning the series on Thursday night. The hosts winning the toss should make their task less tough.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Rahul Tewatia, Ishan Kishan
England: Eoin Morgan (captain), Joss Buttler, Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, Chris Jordan, Mark Wood, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Jonny Bairstow, Jofra Archer

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KL Rahul is a champion player and he will continue to open: Virat Kohli | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesdaythrew his weight behind struggling opener KL Rahul, calling him “a champion player” who remains the best candidate along with Rohit Sharma for the opening slot in the shortest format.
Rahul has been in woeful form with scores of 1, 0, 0 in his last three T20Is.
Kohli, who was dismissed for naught in the fourth Test and the first T20I against England before he turned it around with unbeaten scores of 73 and 77, said it is a matter of few balls.
“I was going through a lean patch two days back. He (KL Rahul) has been a champions player. He’ll continue to be one of our main players along with Rohit at the top of the order,” Kohli said in the post-match presentation.

“It’s a matter of five-six balls in this format.”
Kohli, who pulled India out of trouble with a 46-ball knock, said it was tough facing the new ball, especially with pacer Mark Wood hitting the 90 plus miles per hour.
“You don’t want to play knocks which don’t help the team in any way. It was a bit difficult to bat against the new ball. Their bowlers were hitting good areas,” he said.
“The England bowlers attacked right lines and lengths and with their pace they became more potent.
“We got one little partnership, it was important for me to bat deep. The case was to get set and try to get a decent total. We lacked intensity in the second half.”
Talking about Pandya, Kohli said,” We want to give Hardik a bit more responsibility with the ball; we know what he can do with the bat.”
England skipper Eoin Morgan praised his bowlers for their “exceptional” display.

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In Pics: Buttler stars as England beat India by 8 wickets in third T20I

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Jos Buttler’s blistering 83 not out trumped Virat Kohli’s majestic half-century as England beat India by eight wickets in the third T20I to go 2-1 up in the five-match series. (PTI Photo)

“When you look at conditions tonight, Adil started well and when the pacers came on, the carry that we saw was a bit of a surprise for us. I thought the first half of our bowling was exceptional,” he said.
“The wicket stayed similar, throughout all the games, and if you lose early wickets at the top that raises a question. It’s just a dynamic of T20 cricket.”
Jos Buttler blasted an unbeaten 83 to take England overhaul the target of 157 in 18.2 overs.
“Jos is a world-class player and he has averaged upwards of 50 and striking at 150 at the top. There’s very little you have to say to Jos. He’s been in incredible form and he’s a great leader within our group,” Morgan said.
The England skipper received his 100th cap on Tuesday from Buttler and Morgan said he was moved by his words.
“It nearly got me to tears [getting the 100th cap from Buttler]. He’s a great friend of mine and our families are close. His words warmed my heart and I’m very grateful for that.”
Adjudged Man of the Match for his whirlwind innings, Buttler said: “It was nice to spend time in the middle and I always like to not out at the end.”
“It just felt like a good time to attack [at the top]. It was nice to chance my arm a bit. The first six off got me up and running and gave me confidence.”

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India vs England 2nd T20I: Virat Kohli’s men look to claw back after disappointing start | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: Left shaken by a bunch of world-class operators, the Indian team’s white-ball stars will be aiming to put up an improved batting effort in the second T20 International against England here on Sunday.
It was India’s first white-ball game in three months and the rustiness of some of the premier shorter format players like KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, and Yuzvendra Chahal’s showed in the first game in which the hosts were clinically outplayed.
One defeat is never the end of the story and no critic can rule this Indian team out of the series on the basis of a singular performance especially because of its zeal to fight.
However, as skipper Virat Kohli talks about players with X-factors doing the job, he would expect Rishabh Pant and Pandya to do a bit more with their explosive hitting, which should not be confined to one audacious reverse scoop (Pant off Jofra Archer) or a falling ramp shot (Pandya off Ben Stokes).

PTI Photo
They are more than capable and will be expected to give a far better account of themselves, trying to play more shots square of the wicket like Shreyas Iyer did during his innings of 67 off 48 balls.
Both Pandya (19 off 21 balls) and Pant (21 off 23 balls) weren’t able to gauge the pace of the track as Archer and Mark Wood bowled fast and straight denying them any width for the cut shot. The extra bounce also didn’t allow them to drive on the up.
“The wicket didn’t allow you to hit the kind of shots you wanted to. Shreyas’ innings was an example of how you could use the depth of the crease, ride the bounce because there was variable bounce at times, and hit the areas square of the wicket which others failed to do.

Shreyas Iyer. (ANI Photo)
“It was just a below-par batting performance and England made us pay for it,” Kohli had summed it up aptly at the end of the match.
The captain’s acknowledgement of Iyer’s performance could well mean that the wait for Suryakumar Yadav might get a tad longer with only one middle-order slot available currently.
However, Kohli’s propensity to change his playing XI at the drop of a hat is well documented.
While giving his team’s oldest member, Shikhar Dhawan, a couple of matches is perfectly understandable but how long does he want to persist with the left-hander, who looked completely out of sorts during his 4 off 12 balls.
Rohit Sharma, as per Kohli, is rested for a couple of matches having played 6 consecutive Test matches along with 14 days of hard quarantine at the start of his Australian sojourn.
But Rohit’s presence is very necessary at the top of the order and even though no one is really talking about it, it’s been long since the Indian skipper has had an impactful T20 performance. He is too good a player to miss out.
The bowling department didn’t have enough runs on board to put up a fight but whether one of the three spinners can make way for a tearaway quick like Navdeep Saini remains to be seen.
Perhaps Yuzvendra Chahal could make way for Rahul Tewatia, who may not be as crafty a leg break bowler but certainly a decent one with good batting prowess.

AP Photo
Eoin Morgan, one among the more likeable international captains, has been provided a team that has its bases covered with 12 players plying their trade in the IPL.
Unless something really goes wrong, this England team is a contender to win the T20 World Cup trophy in October this year with way too many powerhouse performers.
Squads:
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Deepak Chahar, Rahul Tewatia, Ishan Kishan (reserve wicketkeeper).
England: Eoin Morgan (captain), Joss Buttler, Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley, Chris Jordan, Mark Wood, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Sam Billings, Jonny Bairstow, Jofra Archer.

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1st T20I: England thump India by eight wickets in series opener | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: Indian batsmen had little to offer in the face of a regimented English bowling effort on a two-paced track as the hosts received an eight-wicket hammering in the opening Twenty20 International here on Friday.
Indian batsmen struggled to score freely before Shreyas Iyer showed the way with a dogged 67-run knock that took Virat Kohli‘s men to 124 for seven at the the Narendra Modi stadium.
The home team could only manage 124 and in the absence of scoreboard pressure, England overhauled the target with ease in 15.3 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
The Indian batsmen never got the momentum going as England’s pace-heavy attack, led by Mark Wood, used the extra bounce effectively to trouble them.
Match highlights | Scorecard
Most of the Indian batsmen went for flashy shots when placement would have served them well, as Iyer did later in the innings.
The world’s biggest stadium, which has a seating capacity of 1,32,000, played host to 67,000 fans, according to Cricinfo, way more than the 50 per cent capacity that was to be filled for the game in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jason Roy scored a well-calculated 49-run knock while Jonny Bairstow’s big hits showed there were no demons in the pitch as the Indians made it seem after being invited to bat by England skipper Eoin Morgan.
Roy struck the ball clean and hard to form a 72-run opening wicket stand with Jos Buttler (28), ending any hopes that the Indians harboured of getting back in the game.
The luxury of time allowed the England batsmen to play freely. None of the Indian bowlers looked like asking tough questions to the visitors.
Roy was trapped by Washington Sundar but by that time England had put 89 runs on the board. Bairstow (26) and Dawid Malan (24) took the side past the finish line.

Earlier, after India’s top-order was blown away, Iyer gauged the nature of the pitch quickly and adjusted his game accordingly, playing a sensible innings that helped them cross the 100-run mark.
Laced with eight boundaries and a six, and coming off 48 balls, it was Iyer’s best T20 knock. He fell in the last over.
England surprised India by opening the attack with leg-spinner Adil Rashid, who was not only economical but also dismissed Kohli (0) after KL Rahul (1) dragged one back onto his stumps from Jofra Archer (3/23).
Feeling the heat, Shikhar Dhawan, who got the opportunity since Rohit Sharma was rested, attempted to break the shackles with a flashy shot off Wood but completely missed the line to see his timber disturbed.
In-form batsman Rishabh Pant (21) was promoted to number four. He struck the ball clean, which included a reverse-flick off Archer for a six, but the England bowlers kept it tight.

The home team was tottering at 34 for three in eight overs.
Pant and Iyer added 28 runs for the fourth wicket before the former hit one straight to Bairstow off Ben Stokes.
That brought Hardik Pandya to the crease, who true to his style, looked for some big hits but could not do much. The visiting players wore black armbands in memory of former cricketer Joey Benjamin, who died Wednesday.



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India vs England T20Is: Top 5 Indian bowlers to watch out for | Cricket News – Times of India

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NEW DELHI: In red-hot form and brimming with confidence after their recent success in the longest format, Team India is all set to take on World’s No.1 T20 team England in a 5-match series beginning Friday.
Aiming to carry the momentum of the Test triumph forward in the white-ball format, Virat Kohli and Co. are up against a tough England side, which will be led by Eoin Morgan.
With an eye on the T20 World Cup — scheduled for later this year, the T20I series serves as a perfect platform for India to zero in on their final squad for the ICC’s marquee event slated for October.
With quite a few options with the bat, Team India looks secure in the batting department but it will be a test for the bowlers, old and new to make a mark in the series to try and book their ticket for the World Cup.
With the likes of Jasprit Bumrah (on leave) and Mohammed Shami (out with injury) missing, the series serves as a great opportunity for the youngsters to make a mark and impress the selectors.
Experienced war horse Bhuvneshwar Kumar will also mark his return to international cricket. It will be a great opportunity for the 31-year-old to prove his skills and fitness and seal his place in the shortest format again.
TimesofIndia.com here takes a look at the top five India bowlers to watch out for in the upcoming T20I series:
Yuzvendra Chahal
India’s joint highest wicket taker in the T20Is, Yuzvendra Chahal, will be leading the spin department when India lock horns with England in the series starting March 12.
Away from international cricket since the T20I series against Australia back in December 2020, Chahal will look to be the trump card for skipper Virat against a side that has been in top form in the shortest format.
One of the most experienced in the bowling line-up, Chahal (45 matches) will be up against a familiar foe. His best performances have come against the No.1 T20I side in the past.
In 6 matches played against England, Chahal so far has been the highest wicket taker from India and even his best bowling performance of 6 for 25 was registered against the Eoin Morgan-led team.
With an economy rate of 7.37 against England, Chahal has managed to keep the opposition batsmen in check and could once again be the go-to man for skipper Kohli in the series which will be played on turning tracks in Motera.

(Getty Images)
Chahal career T20I stats: M 45 | W 59 | BBI 6/25 | Econ 8.29
Chahal vs England in T20Is: M 6 | W 9 | BBI 6/25 | Econ 7.37

Bhuvneshwar Kumar
After a thigh muscle injury forced him out of IPL 2020 midway, pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar missed out on the big Australia tour and was also not part of the Test series against England. But a fit again Bhuvi is all set to take the field and make a mark as India get ready to face a tough English challenge.
With the experience that the 31-year-old has in the shortest format and the ability to perform at the start and at the death, Bhuvneshwar could be a definite starter in the series for skipper Kohli.
Although Bhuvneshwar has not played international cricket since December 2019, steady performances in recent list A cricket for Uttar Pradesh have seen Bhuvneshwar getting right back on track.
As far as playing against England goes, the pacer has only been part of 2 encounters vs the English where he has struggled for wickets and also given away quite a few runs.

(Getty Images)
Bhuvneshwar T20I career stats: M 43 | W 41 | BBI 5/24 | Econ 7.04
Bhuvneshwar vs England in T20Is: M 2 | W 1 | BBI 1/19 | Econ 8.34
Hardik Pandya
Since suffering stress fractures in his back during the Asia Cup in 2019, Hardik Pandya — the bowler — has been on a tough road to recovery.
Apart from the four overs that he bowled against Australia in the ODIs last year, Hardik has been kept away from bowling duties.
But during the training sessions ahead of the T20I series, Hardik was seen bowling in full tilt with a tweaked action, indicating that normal services are set to resume for Hardik in the upcoming series.
Already devastating with the bat, if Hardik gets back to full bowling fitness it will provide skipper Virat with the luxury of an extra pacer against England and going forward.
When it comes to bowling against England, Hardik also has pretty decent numbers. His best figures of 4 for 38 are against England along with a good economy rate.
The 27-year-old’s bowling will be in focus and Hardik will definitely aim to give his best and start preparing himself for the T20 World Cup, where he will be one of India’s key players.

(Twitter photo)
Hardik T20I career stats: M 43 | W 38 | BBI 4/38 | Econ 8.35
Hardik vs England in T20Is: M 6 | W 5 | BBI 4/38 | Econ 8.0
Axar Patel
After a dream Test debut against England, Axar Patel will be on cloud nine when he steps onto the field against England in the T20I series.
The 27-year-old came in as a replacement for the injured Ravindra Jadeja.
Axar, so far, has been part of 11 T20Is for India but has not been a regular feature in the side. With Jadeja away, the series is the perfect opportunity for Axar to showcase his all-round exploits.
Given the red-hot form Axar currently is in, it is very likely that the local boy will share the spin responsibilities with Chahal in the series in Ahmedabad.
In the 11 T20I matches that Axar has played, he has had a decent outing with the ball, claiming 9 wickets at a neat economy of 6.79.
The English batsmen were all over the place against Axar in the Test series and the left-arm spinner will look to produce an encore in the white-ball format as well.

(AFP photo)
Axar career T20I stats: M 11 | W 9 | BBI 3/17 | Econ 6.79
Axar vs England in T20Is: Not yet played
Deepak Chahar
The second Indian and the first pacer to take a T20I hat-trick, Deepak Chahar has impressed quite a few in the shortest format. A product of the IPL, Chahar has been one of the big finds for India in the shortest format.
With the ability to swing the new ball both ways, Chahar has troubled batsmen on most occasions during his 13-game T20I career so far. Although his death bowling is still an area to be worked upon, the 28-year-old will look to impress the selectors when he takes the field against a high-class English batting in the 5-match series.
Chahar managed only a single wicket in the last T20I series (3 matches) vs Australia, but has been a part of a few domestic games since then to try and get back in rhythm.
In the 13 T20Is that Chahar has played, he has taken 18 wickets at an economy rate of 7.56.

(BCCI photo)
Deepak career T20I stats: M 13 | W 18 | BBI 6/7 | Econ 7.56
Deepak vs England in T20Is: M 1 | W 1 | BBI 1/43 | Econ 10.75
Also watch out for:
Rahul Tewatia (T20I debut) & Rahul Chahar (1T20I)
After his heroics in IPL 2020, all-rounder Rahul Tewatia earned a maiden T20I call-up for the series against England. Currently with the team in Ahmedabad, Rahul still faces a challenge when it comes to being part of the XI, as the 27-year-old has to still pass a fitness test.
The same issue of fitness is also being faced by mystery off spinner Varun Chakravarthy. The 29-year-old has failed both his fitness tests and is likely to be replaced by leg-spinner Rahul Chahar in the squad. Chahar so far has played just one T20I. That was against the West Indies in 2019, where he took 1/27.
Earlier, Varun was also named in the India T20I squad for the Australia tour but was dropped from the squad because he wasn’t full fit.

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India vs England: Watch: Ahead of England T20Is, Hardik Pandya fine-tunes bowling skills | Cricket News – Times of India

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AHMEDABAD: All-rounder Hardik Pandya has in recent times stuck to playing as a finisher in the national team. While he did bowl in the second ODI against Australia in Sydney last November, the question on everyone’s mind has been whether he will return to bowl consistently any time soon.
If Hardik’s preparations for the upcoming T20Is against England is anything to go by, he could be hitting the bowling crease against the No. 1 ranked T20 side.
In a video shared by Hardik on Twitter, while he is seen practising the big shots to begin with, he can be seen bowling full throttle towards the end of the clip.
“Preparation done. Can’t wait to get on the field on the 12th,” Hardik wrote.
Not just the Australia series, the all-rounder also didn’t hit the bowling crease for his franchise Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League (IPL) title-winning campaign in 2020.

It was his prowess with the bat that saw Hardik being adjudged as ‘Man of the Series’ in the three-match T20I series against Australia, which India won 2-1.
The 27-year-old was in India’s Test squad for the series against England, but he did not play a single match as the Virat Kohli-led side won the four-match series 3-1 to progress to the final of the World Test Championship.
WTC final will be played between India and New Zealand from June 18-22 at the Ageas Bowl, Southampton.
The upcoming five-match T20I series against England will help India garner perfect practice before the T20 World Cup, which is slated to be played in October-November this year in India.
India’s T20I squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur



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India vs England: WATCH – Hardik Pandya Pulls Off One-handed Stunner at Training Session

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India vs England: WATCH - Hardik Pandya Pulls Off One-handed Stunner at Training Session

Team India all-rounder Hardik Pandya has been patiently waiting for his turn to get a chance in the ongoing series versus England, but has been showing the intensity in the training sessions, day after day. On Saturday, the dasher, who is also an excellent fielder, shared a series of posts where he can be seen working with fielding coach R Sridhar.

In one of the videos, he is seen taking a sensational catch on the boundary rope. He grabbed a one-handed catch, while he was still in the air.

@hardikpandya7 #hardikpandya #INDvENG #TeamIndia #ViratKohli @BCCI #hardikpandya #fan Hardik pandya ♥👑 pic.twitter.com/AU8m6FEr3K

— JÏŤÉŃĎÄŔ_PÀVÍŸÅ (@Jitendar_Paviya) February 28, 2021

Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin shared a video on social media of him Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav grooving to the popular song ‘Vaathi Coming’ from Tamil movie Master. In the video shot during Team India’s training session Ashwin and Pandya can be seen starting dancing to the beat of the song before Yadav joins the fun.

The song ‘Vaathi Coming’ starring megastar Vijay from the movie master has become a viral sensation racking up over 54 million views in under a month. The video posted by Ashwin on his Instagram account is also garnering good numbers with over 3 lac views in just two hours.

The final Test match between India and England starts on March 4 at Motera. The previous match at this venue just finished in a span of two days. India lead the series 2-1, and at least need to draw the last Test, to make it to the World Test Championship final.





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