India vs England: India’s Predicted Playing XI for 4th T20I
India will be looking to keep the series alive after losing the third game.
India will have their task cut out when they lock horns against England in the fourth T20I of the ongoing five-match series. The Men in Blue are trailing in the series after losing the third game on Tuesday. A defeat on Thursday (March 18) will see the hosts concede the series with a match remaining. In the third T20I, England thoroughly dominated the contest and won it by eight wickets.
Bowling first, England managed to restrict India to a below-par total of 156 for 6. Virat Kohli scored a fine unbeaten fifty but lack of support from the other end saw India finish on a modest total. In reply, England chased down the total inside 19 overs by losing just two wickets. Jos Buttler starred with the bat for the tourists, scoring 83.
Here is India’s predicted XI for the third T20I against England:
Openers: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul
In all the three games so far, India have failed to get a good start from the openers. The onus will be on Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul to deliver the goods in the must-win clash. Rohit made a silent return to T20Is after being rested for the first two games. Playing his first T20I in more than a year, the right-handed batsman scored just 15 off 17 balls.
Middle-order batsmen: Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav
In the middle-order, India look likely to make one change by bringing Suryakumar Yadav in place of Shreyas Iyer. Suryakumar had made his debut in the second T20I but did not get a chance to bat before being benched for the third game. With the T20 World Cup not very far away, India would be looking to strengthen their bench strength.
The other two batsmen in the middle-order are Ishan Kishan and captain Kohli. Kishan looks set to continue at number three despite his failure in the third game. Kohli, on the other hand, will be looking to continue his impressive form and guide India to a series-leveling win. The skipper has scored unbeaten fifties in the last two games.
Wicketkeeper and all-rounder: Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya
The middle-order batsmen will be followed by wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant and all-rounder Hardik Pandya. Pant has scored more than 20 runs in all the three games of the series so far and would be keen to put up a big score in the upcoming game. With several batsmen waiting in the wings, Pant need to be consistent in the T20Is.
Pandya, on the other hand, has not looked at his usual best so far. In the third T20I, he faced 15 balls but managed just 17 runs. With the ball, he is yet to pick up a wicket in the series. India will be hoping that the all-rounder puts up a better performance in the upcoming game.
Bowlers: Washington Sundar, Navdeep Saini, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahar
In the bowling lineup, India could make a couple of changes after the poor display with the ball in the second game. Pacer Shardul Thakur could make way for Navdeep Saini while Rahul Chahar could replace Yuzvendra Chahal. Both Chahal and Thakur had poor outings in the third T20I. While Chahal conceded 41 runs in 4 overs, Thakur went for 36 runs in 3.2 overs.
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