England vs India: England is flooded with sporting action at the moment. The English crowd will be in a fix whether to watch their football team go up against Colombia or to witness their cricket team smash yet another opponent out of the park or to watch some quality tennis at Wimbledon. England vs India 2018 series will be one to behold. Both teams have been playing quality cricket, although England have gone slightly berserk. In a good way of course. They’ve been posting massive scores and the white Kookaburra seems to have found a liking to the English willows. However, they have a staunch challenge ahead as they lock horns with the mighty Indians. In England, team India have struggled with reb ball cricket but in the 50 & 20-over format, they’ve been decent. Can they go one step better? Fantasy Cricket team, preview, match insights for England vs India 1st T20I are drafted here.

THE KL RAHUL ENIGMA

He’s in the form of his life and it’s time for the Indian think tank to use his quality ably. KL Rahul took the IPL by a storm. He was undoubtedly the most skilled player in the league and the dexterity he’d displayed was remarkable. Yet, somehow, he’s not the obvious choice. With all due respect to Suresh Raina and Manish Pandey who are splendid players themselves, their ability right now is nowhere close to Rahul’s. In the 2nd T20I against Ireland, Rahul played another blinder. The purity in his strokes and the consistency he’s hit ought to make him a certainty in the eleven but his inclusion is still chancy. How?

WHEN: July 3rd, 10:00 PM (IST)

WHERE: Old Trafford, Manchester

TEAM NEWS

England are likely to play the same eleven that beat Australia in their last T20I. They’ve already smashed the Aussies 5-0 in the ODIs and will be looking for more

Team India are conjectural of Rahul’s inclusion. Who’ll bat at number 3? Raina or Rahul? Jasprit Bumrah will miss the T20 series against England after suffering an injury. Umesh Yadav is likely to replace him.

EXPECTED PLAYING 11

ENGLAND

Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (c), Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Liam Plunkett, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid.

INDIA

Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav

PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR

ROHIT SHARMA

I’d definitely go for Rahul but the very basic for any fantasy cricket pick is that the chosen player must be a certainty in the playing eleven. Rohit Sharma, however, isn’t a bad option. He narrowly missed out on yet another T20 hundred against Ireland and will be the player to watch out for. Sharma utilises pace on the ball like no other batter and he’s got that extra second to pick the length. That’s a special ability and after been given a second chance at clearing the yo-yo test, Rohit will be all geared to prove his ability with the bat and also his fitness. Watch out for this marauder.

On FanFight Rohit costs a mere 8.6 credits. He’s an absolute must because once he gets going he’s bound to score heavily.

Rohit in T20I – Matches played: 81, Runs: 1949, Strike rate: 136.58, Balls/boundary: 5.6

JASON ROY

Picking an opener who’s in classy form would be a favourable choice and that’s why we’ve gone with Jason Roy. Roy in the ODIs against Australia scored 2 hundreds & an 80 and looked in phenomenal touch. He didn’t have the best IPL, but at home, he’s been able to belt bowlers at will. His ability to hit the ball straight and big makes him a player to watch out for. As far as the rest of the batting line-up is concerned, just go through the names.

On FanFight Jason Roy is priced at 8.6 credits. He walks straight into our 6-man fantasy cricket team.

Roy in T20I – Matches played: 28, Runs: 562, Strike rate: 136.07, Balls/boundary: 5

FANFIGHT FANTASY CRICKET TEAM FOR

ENGLAND vs INDIA 1st T20I

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STAT ATTACK

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are 8 and 51 runs short of the 2,000 run mark. Kohli will be the 4th batter overall to reach that landmark.

Kohli averages a staggering 48.58 in 59 T20I games. The second best batting average in the shortest format. Only Babar Azam has a better batting average. He averages 53.00 but has played 39 games lesser.

Liam Plunkett missed 74 T20Is between his debut and his next appearance. Umesh Yadav missed 65. Also, between his debut and his next game.

PREDICTION

Both teams won their previous T20Is. England, though beat a much tougher opponent. Team India have all the departments neatly covered and it’ll all boil down to how well the Indian wrist spinners bowl. England play at home and with the form they’ve hit it’ll be an uphill task to stop them. England are the favourites for this fixture but it’s surely going to be a cracker of a game. Which side are you rooting for?

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Also, check out our previous match previews.

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