After whitewashing Australia in the 5 match One-day international series, the confident England team will take on tougher opponents India in 3 match T20I series starting from 3rd July. It promises to be a cricket lover’s delight to see a clash between 3rd ranked India and 5th ranked England side.
England team have picked up a strong T20I side comprising of top quality players who can change the course of the match with either their powerful hitting or with the twin bowling attack that could help the hosts win the series.
Here we look at the 7 England players who might pose a big threat to India’s chances in upcoming T20I series
1. Jason Roy
Jason Roy, an attacking opener made his T20I for England on 7th September 2014 against India. Since his debut, he has played a total of 27 T20Is and scored a total of 518 runs with the best score of 78 with 2 half centuries. He will be a major threat during the 3 matches T20I series in view of his superb form in the recently concluded ODI series
He played a key role in team England’s success by providing brilliant starts in a majority of the innings in 2018, Roy has scored so far 702 runs from 15 ODI matches. In 2017, Jason Roy scored 164 runs from 7 matches for England in T20Is.
In this year’s IPL also, Jason Roy who played for Delhi Daredevils in only 5 matches had scored 120 runs with the best score of 91* against Mumbai Indians. The right-handed dashing opener has a strike of 133. 85.
If Jason Roy could continue to provide the brilliant starts in T20I series too, then England has a bright chance of winning the series against the strong opponent India.
2. Jonny Bairstow
Jonny Bairstow had a dream ODI series against Australia while opening the innings with Jason Roy. He scored 300 runs in the 5 matches with attacking stroke play. Bairstow made his T20I debut for England against West Indies in 2011 September. He has played so far 23 T20I matches and scored a total of 329 runs with the best score of 60* and 2 half-centuries to his name.
With India, a much tougher opponent the pair of Jason Roy and Bairstow could attack the Indian bowlers comfortably. Jonny Bairstow is currently the leading runs scorer in ODI for 2018 so far. He has scored so far 864 runs from 16 matches with an average of 54.00 with 4 centuries and 2 half-centuries.
Though Jonny Bairstow has little experience against the Indian bowlers, he could be a big threat with his attacking stroke play.
3. Jos Buttler
Jos Buttler has been in a superb form with the bat in IPL 11 and for England team both. He made his T20I debut for England against India on 31st August 2011. He has scored so far 1069 runs from 61 matches with the best score of 73* with 5 half centuries.
In the recently concluded 5th ODI match against Australia at Old Trafford, England was struggling at 24 for 4 chasing the modest target of 206. He steadied the innings while the hosts lost wickets on the other side and played a match-winning knock of 110* and helped England win the match by 1 wicket to complete whitewash of Australia.
Coming in the middle order, Buttler is the dangerous batsmen in limited overs format these days. He performed brilliantly for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 11, scoring 548 runs from 13 matches. While taking opener’s position from May 2nd, Jos Buttler stole the show and helped RR reach the playoff stage.
He is a wicketkeeper-batsman with 22 catches and 3 stumpings from 61 matches. He kept the wickets for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2018 and did a decent job.
In the lone T20I against Australia, today Buttler would be opening the innings with a hope to continue his brilliant form and make a formidable combination with Jason Roy or Jonny Bairstow. These 3 batsmen give England the best combination for the top batting slots in the upcoming T20 series against India.
4. Alex Hales
Another attacking middle-order batsman of England, Alex Hales made his T20I debut for England on 31st August 2011. In recently concluded ODI series against Australia, Hales showed his class coming at number 3 and made vital contributions.
In 2017, Alex Hales had played just 3 T20Is and scored 126 runs with the best score of 47*. He had a decent debut IPL 2018 scoring 148 runs from 6 matches.
His best score in IPL 2018 was 45. In his T20I career, Alex Hales has 52 matches and scored 1456 runs with the best score of 116* at a healthy strike rate of 136.32 with 1 century and 7 half-centuries.
5. Eoin Morgan
Eoin Morgan, the captain of England T20I team has shown his leadership qualities in the recently concluded ODI series against Australia. He would be another threat for the Indian team in upcoming series.
Morgan made his T20I debut for England against Netherlands on 5th June 2009. Since his debut, Morgan has played 72 matches and scored 1678 runs with the best score of 85*, healthy strike of 132.33.
In the recently concluded One day international series against Australia, Eoin Morgan played few quick-fire knocks helping England win matches.
So far in 2018, in the 2 T20I matches, Morgan has scored 102 runs with the best score of 85* with 9 half centuries. If the captain can continue his impressive performance, then England has a great chance to upset the Indian team.
6. Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali the spinning all-rounder will gear up to do well in the upcoming T20I series against India in view of his recent exposure in IPL 2018 with both bat and ball. The all-rounder made his T20I debut against West Indies on March 11, 2014.
His performance in the recently concluded ODI series against Australia with the ball was impressive taking wickets when the team needed.
In the 2018 IPL season, Moeen Ali who played for Royal Challengers Bangalore scored 77 runs from 5 matches and took 3 wickets only.
His records in T20Is has not been impressive with 22 matches and scoring 202 runs with the best score of 72* with only 1 half century. With the ball, he has taken 14 wickets from 22 matches with an economy of 7.69 runs per over. Coming lower down the order, the left-handed batsman will be a big weapon for the captain Eoin Morgan to put pressure on Indian bowling.
With Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali the off-spin bowler can trouble the Indian batsmen and threaten with the ball also.
7. Tom Curran
Tom Curran, the young right-handed fast bowler made his T20I debut for England on June 23rd, 2017 against South Africa. He has been impressive with the ball playing 6 T20I matches, taking 7 wickets with an economy of 9.28 runs per over.
In the 2018 edition of IPL, Tom Curran played for Kolkata Knight Riders and took 6 wickets from 5 matches.
He has the ability to bowl yorkers at will. Tom Curran has to play a key role to pick up wickets and put pressure on the Indian batting line up in the absence of Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes. Curran also has played ODI and test matches for England also.