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India vs England 2nd T20I Preview: Playing 11s, Timings, Telecast & More

India will be keen to seal the T20I series against India after notching up a dominant win in the first T20I in Manchester

By Unnikrishnan
KL Rahul notched up a brilliant ton for India in the first T20I and he will lead Indias charge

Cardiff, July 5: A dominant win in the first T20I has set the tone and India would look to ensure that a spin-wary England remain on the back-foot when the two sides clash in the second T20I here on Friday (July 6).

Indian cricket team arrives in Cardiff, Wales

Kuldeep Yadav took 5-24 and KL Rahul scored an unbeaten ton as India produced a fine all-round display to stun the hosts by eight wickets in Manchester. A win tomorrow would seal the three-match series for Virat Kohli and band.

In fact, India stand on the cusp of a sixth successive T20I series' win - a run stretching back to their 2-1 win over New Zealand at home in November 2017.

The big question England face is how to tame the wrist spin of Kuldeep Yadav. In the aftermath of their loss on Tuesday, both skipper Eoin Morgan and ace batsman Jos Buttler have urged their teammates to show more patience at the crease and watch the ball carefully. But with such a short turnaround in the fixtures' list, it is easier said than done.

The English camp will deploy the services of spin-bowling machine 'Merlyn' at Cardiff. A scarcity of unorthodox wrist spinners to practice against is one of the key reasons for this move, as the spin-bowling machine is capable of replicating every style of delivery. An English team last used it ahead of the 2005 Ashes, when they were practising to cope with Shane Warne.

A key reason underlined by Morgan after the first defeat was that the middle-order batsmen, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root, who both got stumped off successive googlies, needed more time to settle in.

Despite the loss, one of the key strengths for England is their top-order's ability to handle pace and they would like another fast start at Cardiff. It is perhaps the only real concern for India emanating from that first game as the enforced new-ball pairing of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav was proven ineffective at Old Trafford.

Even with Kuldeep causing all sorts of trouble for the hosts, India wouldn't like to pull things back after a high-flying English start once again. The visitors are unlikely to make a change and disturb their winning combination and the pacers will have to learn from the experience of bowling on such batsmen-friendly pitches.

Weather could play a part in the game here at the Sophia Gardens. After enjoying sunny days both in Dublin and Manchester, the team was greeted by typical English grey skies, light rain and chill when they arrived in Cardiff. It is expected to clear out for the match day, but rain had curtailed the last game these two sides played here in 2014.

Teams: India: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav.

England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Dawid Malan.

Match Live on Sony Network from 10 pm IST.

Story first published: Thursday, July 5, 2018, 16:22 [IST]
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