We enjoyed the 4-match Test series between India and England recently. Team India emerged victorious winning the last 3 Tests and booking a place in the World Test Championship final, where it will compete with New Zealand for the title.

Now the two big guns are ready to battle each other in a new format. India and England will play five T20 matches from 12th to 20th March 2021.

This 5-match T20 series is building up to the T20 World Cup, scheduled for later this year. Both the teams will be eager to get their players some much-needed international T20 action to prepare for the World Cup.

Team India won their last T20 series against Australia back in December 2020. The players had had good T20 practice in the Indian T20 League, which concluded a month before the T20 series against Australia.

On the other hand, England has also had a fantastic T20 run, beating South Africa 3-0 in their last T20 series. The amazing run of form of both the teams places them on top of the T20 rankings, with England leading the pack and India placed second.

India has won the last two T20 series played against England and will be confident of winning this one as well on the back of the fantastic Test series win. Let's find out who can be the star performers in the first T20 match between the two teams.

Match Details

• Match: India vs. England, 1st T20
• Venue: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, India
• Time: 12th March'21, 7 PM

Probable Playing XI

India

Rohit Sharma, L Rahul, V Kohli (C), S Iyer, R Pant (WK), H Pandya, A Patel, D Chahar B Kumar, N Saini, Y Chahal

England

J Roy, J Buttler (WK), D Malan, J Bairstow, B Stokes, E Morgan (C), S Curran, M Ali, C Jordan, J Archer, A Rashid

Weather and Pitch Report

The weather on 12th March '21 is likely to be very warm and sunny with an average temperature of 36 degrees celsius. There is no chance of rain, which will make it suitable for batting.

We observed in the 3rd and 4th Test matches that it's a dusty pitch helpful to the spinners. It will be interesting to see how the two teams utilize their spinners and prepare their batsmen against spin.

Key Players

• R Pant: After his scintillating knock in the last Test match, it will be interesting to see if Pant can regain his T20 form against England.
• Y Chahal: Not included in the squad in the recent Test series, Chahal will want to impress on a pitch favoring spinners.
• A Patel: He had an amazing run in the Test series and will want to solidify his position as a dependable all-rounder on the Indian team.
• A Rashid: England will be pegging their hopes on Rashid to deliver the goods on a pitch favoring spinners.
• B Stokes: He gave hints of his ability in the Test series. England will hope he leads them to victory.

Howzat Dream Team

• Wicketkeeper: R Pant, J Buttler
• Batsmen: Rohit Sharma, V Kohli, E Morgan, H Pandya
• All-rounders: B Stokes, A Patel
• Bowlers: Y Chahal, A Rashid, B Kumar

• Captain: Rohit Sharma/E Morgan
• Vice Captain: Y Chahal/A Rashid

NOTE: The Howzat dream team above is just a suggestion. You should use your knowledge of cricket to make a fantasy prediction, select your team and play fantasy cricket matches. Also, don’t forget to make any necessary changes to your team once the actual playing XI is announced by each team (30 minutes before the start of the match) as some players you have selected might not be part of the team playing the match.

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