India look to seal T20I series against struggling England in Rajkot

Since Suryakumar took over as captain last year, India have hardly put a wrong but his own form has dipped

Rajkot: India captain Suryakumar Yadav will be expected to get back to his belligerent best after a prolonged lean run when his uber-aggressive unit takes on a struggling England in the third T20 International, aiming for a series-sealing win here on Tuesday.

Since Suryakumar took over as captain last year, India have hardly put a wrong but his own form has dipped. The year gone by was the least productive for arguably the world’s best T20 batter as he totalled 429 runs in 17 innings at an average of 26.81.

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Suryakumar averaged close to 35 in 2021, his first year in international cricket, before raising it to 45 plus in the following two years. The 34-year-old from Mumbai is yet to fire in the five-match series against England and has a point to prove following his exclusion from the ODI Champions Trophy squad.

Though he is India’s very own ‘Mr 360’, Suryakumar is at his finest when he is toying with the opposition attack with runs behind the wicket. He perished while attempting his signature pickup shot of a slower ball in the series opener before playing one onto his stump in the last game.

Tilak Varma’s individual brilliance got India over the line in Chennai but besides Suryakumar’s lack of runs, Sanju Samson’s short ball shortcomings were highlighted. Samson, who had a memorable series in South Africa, has been dismissed to the short ball from Jofra Archer twice in the series.

It is something he would look to correct on a Rajkot pitch which is usually full of runs and is expected to be another happy hunting ground for the Indians after wins in the first two games of the five-match rubber.

Though Archer and Mark Wood have posed a few challenges to the home batters, one man who has totally looked comfortable against extra pace is Tilak. The southpaw’s pick-up shot off Archer at Chepauk spoke a lot about his class.

With Rinku Singh and Nitish Reddy unavailable due to injuries, there is a possibility of either Shivam Dube or Ramandeep Singh getting a game. Dube, who was tasked with smashing the spinners in the middle overs during the T20 World Cup, could come in handy against the leg-spin of Adil Rashid.

Arshdeep Singh has been the lone specialist pacer in the playing eleven thus far with Hardik Pandya providing support. The team management is likely to keep that combination. India, who prefer to play with eight batters, have been relying on Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakaravarthy to do the job in the middle overs and have used as many as five spin options in Chennai.

“We’ve been playing with an extra batter since the last two three series. We want that cushion and also that batter gives us two-three overs in the game,” said Suryakumar following the close finish on Saturday night.

In a must-win situation to keep the five-match series alive, England would be hoping to put a much-improved performance with the bat. Skipper Jos Buttler has looked the most assured England batter thus far while the others have struggled against quality spin.

Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse showed potential in the last game and they would be looking to build on that. On the bowling front, Archer would be aiming for the early wickets but at the same time, he will also look to stem the flow of runs, having conceded 60 off his four overs in Chennai. Leg-spinner Adil Rashid has been frugal as ever and it’s the batting that needs to step up and do the job.