Eng vs IND: India will begin their next international assignment against England in a limited-overs series after winning the silver medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games. India will play three T20Is and three ODIs in England. India will kickstart the series with T20Is, with the first match being held on Chester-le-Street on September 10. The warm-up T20I match ended in a no result with the rain playing spoilsport.
The T20I series promises a crackling contest between the two teams. The last time the two teams clashed in a T20I, India defeated England by 4 runs in a thriller in the 2022 Commonwealth Games semis. England would be definitely eyeing revenge for the semis loss in the T20I series.
India eyeing a fresh start:
India can be easily called the chokers in women’s cricket. They lost quite a few finals in multi-nation tournaments, and are not known to deliver the killer punch. The defeat to Australia by 9 runs in the 2022 Commonwealth Games final would still be fresh in their minds. India, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, needs to quickly brush off the past, and focus on the current series at hand.
A win in the T20Is in England will give a great boost to their confidence. India will have to find an answer to the perennial problem of a finisher who can seal the victory by some lusty hitting in the final phase of an innings. They have included debutant Kiran Navgirewho could be the answer to this problem. Navgire’s big-hitting could be all India would need to finish off games. For the record, Navgire is coming off after hitting the fastest fifty in the Women’s T20 Challenge in May.
She also scored 162 not out in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy bringing her to the limelight. Although Navgire is a top-order batswoman, she might have batted lower down the order to seal wins for the team. A lot will also rest on skipper Kaur on how she handles her players after the gold miss in CWG 2022. Kaur has to lead from the front to inspire her team to beat England in their latter’s den.
Players to watch out for ENG vs IND series:
India will once again depend heavily on Renuka Singh to give them the early breakthroughs she has habitually done in the past. Renuka is coming after a successful campaign in CWG 2022 and will be expected to continue the good work. She will be the key for India in the T20I series. Also, all eyes will be on Nagvire as she could turn out to be the future Indian star.
England struggling with their own problems:
Coming to England, they have been in poor form of late, not only grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory against India in the CWG 2022 semis, but they have also struggled against quality opponents. The bronze medal loss would still hurt them.
Ahead of the series, their problems have compounded with their acting skipper Nat Sciveropting out of the tournament due to mental health issues. They have a new skipper in Amy Jones. Their regular skipper Heather Knight is yet to recover from her hip injury. A youngster in Lauren Bell has been called for the T20I series. Bell has had a great season in this year’s Hundred where she bagged 11 wickets @ 16.00. Bell comes in place of veteran player Katherine Brunt, who has been rested for the series.
England is playing at home, and they could rely on home advantage to keep India at bay. The CWG is in the distant past now, and England would be eyeing revenge for the semis loss suffered at the hands of India.
India Women are batting first in the practice game against England Women Development at Riverside Ground, Durham.
After 6 overs, India are 41-2.
LIVE: https://t.co/IPmmzmor3q pic.twitter.com/xVs1D4kmqQ— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) September 6, 2022
Players to watch out for ENG vs IND series:
With Knight and Sciver not available, all responsibility of leading the team rests on Amy who also keeps wickets. Hence, Amy has a lot on her plate. But the veteran player of 73 T20Is has the experience to fall back on, and motivate her players to focus on controllable and deliver against a competitive Indian unit. If Amy delivers in her multi-dimensional role, India would have a tough job at hand.
Head to head:
The last time India played a T20I series in England, they lost 2-1. In the last five T20Is, India have won 2, lost 2 and one was abandoned. Overall, India has a poor record against England, winning 6 and losing 17 in 23 T20Is.
Pitch report:
England pitches are known to offer some movement initially before settling down and becoming better for batting. Hence, the first T20I at Chester-le-Street promises an even contest between bat and ball. Chasing on this ground would be preferable as there is no safe total in T20Is anymore.
ENG vs IND first T20I Telecast Details:
TV: Sony Ten
Live Streaming: Sony Liv App
Squads:
England: Nat Sciver (withdrawn), Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Kate Cross, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones (captain/w/k), Freya Kemp, Bryony Smith, Issy Wong, Danni Wyatt.
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Jemimah Rodrigues, Sneh Rana, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Radha Yadav, Sabbineni Meghana, Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia (WK), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Dayalan Hemalatha, Simran Dil Bahadur, Richa Ghosh (WK), K.P. Navgire
