ENG vs IND: Men in Blue aim for good start in series, hosts look forward to continuing 'Morgan' brand of cricket

Southampton [UK], July 6 (ANI): After the Indian team had to stay content with the highly prestigious Pataudi Trophy series against England ending in a 2-2 draw, the Men in Blue will be looking forward to moving on from the heartbreaking defeat in the fifth and final Test at Edgbaston and make an impact in the first T20I at Southampton.
The first T20I of the three-match series against England will be played on Thursday at The Rose Bowl Stadium in Southampton.
On the other hand, fresh off a thumping Test series win against New Zealand, an ODI series win against the Netherlands and a historic win at Edgbaston against India, England will be looking forward to continue with their dominant ways.
But this time, they would not be having former captain Eoin Morgan by their side as he has announced his retirement from international Cricket. An in-form batter in Jos Buttler has been chosen to carry forward the revolution that his predecessor started in white-ball cricket.
India will be looking forward to take an advantage of this transition and walk away with the T20I series. For newer players like Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh and Avesh Khan, this series will be an important chance not only to prove themselves in testing English conditions, but also make their case strong for a potential slot in T20 World Cup squad, which will take place in Australia later this year.
For captain Rohit Sharma, star batter Virat Kohli, this overseas outing will be crucial to get their form back after having a subpar IPL 2022 with the bat. Whatever the opening combination may be, Rohit Sharma will have to provide a positive, hard-hitting start during the powerplay.
The battle for the wicketkeeper-batter slot for T20I WC squad will continue among Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik, with the latter back in the scheme of things after a great IPL season with Royal Challengers Bangalore as a finisher.
India's middle order, consisting of mostly fresh talent will be tested in England by English bowlers, especially a returning Sam Curran.
It will be upto Indian pacers like Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel to extract the most advantage out of English conditions and trouble English batters. Spinners like Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja will have to complement the pace attack well.
Coming to England, the side is on an absolute roll right now. It seems they can do no wrong. The newly-appointed captain Jos Buttler will be looking forward to leading his troops well towards victory and continuing their domination at home. Buttler is in red-hot form right now in white-ball cricket and this series will only give him more chances to prove it. Indian bowlers will have to exercise caution and pull something tricky to trap this in-form batter.
In-form opener Jason Roy, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Dawid Malan and debutant Harry Brook also make a dangerous group to tackle with. They will be looking forward to going off on a world-class Indian bowling attack and continue entertaining fans with their attacking brand of cricket. All-rounders Sam Curran and Moeen Ali can also inflict some damage with the bat.
Indian bowlers will have to look out against this highly-aggressive English batting line-up, which will not only keep a lot of price on their wicket, but also continue playing with the aggression and boldness developed throughout Morgan's reign.
Bowlers like Tymal Mills, Matthew Parkinson, Reece Topley, Richard Gleeson will also get a chance to make their name for themselves against a world-class Indian batting line-up. They will have to deliver breakthroughs for their side consistently. Seniors like Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan and David Willey will also have to lead the bowling from the front.
Fans will be guaranteed an amazing game of cricket at Southampton, no matter what result!
India's squad for 1st T20I: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
India's squad for 2nd and 3rd T20I: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik
England T20I squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Richard Gleeson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Matthew Parkinson, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, David Willey. (ANI)