Can Jos Buttler reproduce the stunning IPL form as England captain?
The new skipper has a big shoes to fill as the hosts take on India in first T20
With the last Test done and dusted between India and England with home team pulling off an incredible win, the focus now shifts to the shortest format — the Twenty20 — between the two heavyweights of the game.
India and England have had a great rivalry in T20 with India able to match the aggressive style of England and have managed to beat them in the last three series played between them. The last time India beat England in England was when Kuldeep Yadav had weaved his magic and India won the series 2-1, but that was the Eoin Morgan era. The former skipper has just announced his retirement and it will be a challenge for Jos Buttler to fill in his big shoes of Morgan, who changed the way England played the white-ball cricket.
Buttler was a part of that successful squad and is coming back after an outstanding Indian Premier League (IPL) season, scoring three hundreds and winning the Orange Cap for the top-scorer of the season. But captaining England against a strong Indian team will be a test of his character.
With the T20 World Cup happening in Australia in October, both teams will be looking to get a settled side before the showpiece. From England side, the players to watch out for will be Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone. Both are big-hitters and can take the game away from the opposition if they have a good day. Once again the focus will be on Umran Malik, India’s tearaway fast bowler and he will be tested against a strong England team. Also the return of Rohit Sharma as captain after missing the Test will be a good news for Team India. It needs to be seen if Rohit could regain his form after a poor IPL.
India would like to get back to winning ways after England stunned them with their new brand of cricket in the red ball and will hope they can put one across the rampaging hosts.