Introduction
After a humiliating series loss to a second-string England side in the ODI series, Pakistan would want to regain their form ahead of the T20I series. When Pakistan toured England in 2020, they drew the 3-match bilateral T20I series by 1-1 where one game got abandoned by rain. Pakistan would like to take the inspiration from their maiden bilateral T20I series win in South Africa in April 2021.
England, on the other hand, are fresh this home season with T20I and ODI series wins against hapless Sri Lanka. Although, the squad that played against Sri Lanka comprised of regular England white-ball players, the replacement team that played against Pakistan looked as good as the former with experienced Ben Stokes captaining the side.
Head-to-Head
Both the teams have faced each other 18 times in T20Is with England having an upper-hand. England have won 11 matches while Pakistan won 5 matches with one tie and one no-result. On 9 occasions these T20I matches have been played in England out of which England has won 5 while Pakistan won 3 with one match having no-result.
Key Players
England: For England, many regular players are set to make their comeback for the upcoming series as they were in isolation after COVID-19 broke out in their dressing room during the preceeding series against Sri Lanka. Jonny Bairstow has been in good form off late with a half century in 1st T20I against Sri Lanka last month. Saqib Mahmood capped a memorable ODI series against Pakistan by taking 9 wickets in 3 matches while pace bowling all-rounder Lewis Gregory also made a huge impact with thr ball as well as with the bat in the recently concluded ODI series against Pakistan. Both Mahmood and Gregory got selected after a stellar performance in the ODI series against Pakistan. Eoin Morgan is back as a captain and Jos Buttler is also back after missing most of the Sri Lanka series with a calf injury. Buttler will carry his good form from the IPL along with a score of 68* in a successful chase during the 1st T20I against Sri Lanka last month. Jason Roy has been in great form.
Pakistan: The captain Babar Azam is expected to lead from the front as he’s in a very good nick off late. He had a stellar T20I series against South Africa in April and has even scored his career-best 158 runs in the final ODI against England. So, he will be eager to carry the form. Mohammad Rizwan, the opening batter in T20I had a good T20I series against South Africa as well where scored 74 runs in his last match (ODI) against England and is thus expected to fire as a batsman.
Hasan Ali is also expected to bowl well as he accounted for 6 wickets in 3 ODI matches against England recently. Shaheen Shah Afridi struggled in the ODI series against England and would like to make a mark in this T20I series by taking wickets. Pakistan will have to find a way to dismiss England batters during the T20I series.
IN and OUTS:
England: Ben Stokes has been rested. Sam Billings, Sam Curran, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes have been omitted to keep them fresh for the upcoming Test series against India in August. Tom Banton, Jake Ball and Matt Parkinson have been included in the squad.
Pakistan: Haider Ali had been ruled out due to him breaching the COVID 19 bio-secure bubble during the PSL 2021 in June in UAE. Sohaib Maqsood was called as a replacement and played all the 3 ODIs against England.
SQUADS:
England: Eoin Morgan (Capt), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Tom Banton, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, David Willey.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (Capt), Fakhar Zaman, Sharjeel Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Mohammed Hafeez, Usman Qadir, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Azam Khan, Mohammed Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Arshad Iqbal, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammed Hasnain, Shaheen Afridi.
Probable Playing XI:
England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan (capt), Liam Livingstone, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Saqib Mahmood.
Pakistan: Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (capt), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohaib Maqsood, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
How and where to watch:
The England vs Pakistan T20I series will be telecasted live on the Sony Sports Network in India. It will also live stream on the Sony Liv App in India.
The first match of the T20I series will be played at Nottingham on 16 July (18:30 local time), 23:00 IST. The 2nd match will be played at Leeds on 18 July (14:30 local time), 19:00 IST. The 3rd match will be played at Manchester on 20 July (18:30 local time), 23:00 IST. The 1st and 3rd matches are night games while the 2nd one is a day game.
Conclusion:
While the English side is brimming with loads of confidence up their sleeves, Pakistan, on the other hand, is desperate to win a T20I series against England after getting whitewashed by England in the ODI series by 3-0. Will they bounce back in T20I series after the ODI series defeat or will English dominance continue ?
