BIRMINGHAM: All eyes will be on star batsman Virat Kohli when the Indian team hits the ground here tomorrow to play its second T20 International match, five months after the T20 match. He will come down to play and try to get out of his current weak form. Kohli last played a T20 match in February after playing in the T20 World Cup under his captaincy and he has played only two T20s since the World Cup.
With Rishabh Pant, Jaspreet Bumrah, Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja returning to the team from this match along with Kohli, who will be left out of the team is likely to be a headache for the team management. Deepak Hooda has shown his mettle at number three in the absence of Kohli. Now, if Team India retains Hooda in that position, Kohli could come in the opening along with Rohit and Ishaan Kishan could be left out. Jadeja will replace Akshar Patel, while Arshdeep is not in the second T20 squad so Bumrah will be included automatically. Suryakumar may have to be sent out to accommodate Pant.
Rohit becomes world’s first captain to win 13 consecutive T20s, defeats England by 50 runs in first T20
Southampton: In the first T20 played here, the Indian team beat England by 50 runs with the help of Hardik Pandya’s all-round performance and captain Rohit Sharma became the first captain in the world to win 13 consecutive T20 matches. It was the 13th victory of the Indian team under his leadership since Rohit Sharma became the full-time captain and he became the first captain in the world to win 13 consecutive matches in this smallest format of international cricket.
In the first T20, India won the toss and elected to bat. In addition to Hardik Pandya’s first half-century of T20 International, Deepak Hooda’s 33, Suryakumar’s 39 and Rohit’s 24 helped him to 198 for 8 against which England were bowled out for 19.3 by Hardik. The wrap was turned and the Indian team won the match by 50 runs. After becoming a full-time captain, Rohit Sharma played a series against New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka, in which Team India did not lose a single match under Rohit’s captaincy.