Unruffled by the lingering fitness concerns surrounding Mohammed Shami, the well-oiled machine that is India’s T20 team will be eyeing an encore of its opening game performance against a stunned England in the second game of a five-match series in Chennai on Saturday. India lead the rubber 1-0 after a facile seven-wicket victory at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. The hosts would certainly want to see Shami in action but his inclusion in the eleven, as things stand now, will depend on further evaluation of his fitness.
The 34-year-old was expected to feature in the first game and he was actively involved in the nets too, but his comeback was postponed possibly because the management wanted to take a deeper look at his readiness.
However, India did not miss Shami much in Kolkata where pacer Arshdeep Singh, with the new ball, and spinner Varun Chakravarthy, in the middle phase, wrecked England, producing impressive spells.
The Chepauk spin
The Eden pitch had enough help for both quicks and their slower colleagues but the corresponding 22-yard trampoline here could offer more assistance to the spinners, as it often has been the case in the past.
India would not be complaining whatever be the nature of the track. The home side boasts of quality and variety in a line-up consisting Varun, vice-captain Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi.
From England’s perspective, they would require much better contributions from experienced spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone to challenge the Indians.
Apart from pacer Jofra Archer, none of the other English bowlers could survive the onslaught of Abhishek Sharma and the mini cameo of Sanju Samson in the first match.
Sanju-Abhishek pair on a roll
Since coming together in the T20Is last year, Samson and Abhishek have had considerable success, often giving India a flying start.
The desired double-barrel firing has been occasional, but at least one of them has produced the goods rather consistently.
In Kolkata, Abhishek hurt England with a brutal knock, striking at over 230.
Samson has three hundreds in the last six innings, and it would not be unrealistic to imagine these two as the first-choice openers once India hit the road to next year’s T20 World Cup at home.
They also offer that rare right-hand-left-hand combination at the top.
Here too, the Indian openers will have to give their side a solid start considering the tricky nature of the pitch.
England too will hope for a fiery start from their openers to clinch early momentum, as Phil Salt and Ben Duckett jointly made just four runs off seven balls.
Time for Surya to shine
It’s not a matter of grave concern yet but skipper Suryakumar Yadav will be mindful of the fact that he has just two fifties in the previous 11 innings after the T20 World Cup final last year.
Further distilled, the stats will show that he has made no significant contributions in the last three matches, including a three-ball duck at Kolkata.
But such things often get papered over when the team is on a roll as the reigning T20 World Champions have steamrolled Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa in their last three assignments.
But he would not want to miss the party for long and will be eyeing a fruitful outing here.
Team combination
India might not ring in many major changes considering the series is just one-match old, and if Shami is indeed fit to make his international comeback since the 2023 World Cup final, then Nitish Kumar Reddy could make way for him.
Keeping in mind the character of Chepauk pitch, two-time world champions England might look to reinforce the spin department, adding young leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed.
The visitors have made one like-for-like change to the side by bringing in right-arm pacer Brydon Carse for Gus Atkinson. They have also added another wicketkeeper — Jamie Smith — to the 12-player squad.
His addition has been forced by Jacob Bethell’s illness. he might make the playing XI if Bethell does not recover in time.
India: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk).
England: Jos Buttler (c), Ben Duckett, Philip Salt (wicketkeeper), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
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