The recently concluded T20I series between England and India saw the Men in Blue win by an emphatic 2-1 margin, their second consecutive T20I series win on English soil, including the 2018 tour. While the Indian team annihilated the hosts without breaking a sweat in the first two games, England finished with a 17-run victory.
The hosts, however, had to work hard for their victory, as they were given a run for their money despite posting a massive total of 215/7. Suryakumar Yadav’s swashbuckling century appeared to have given India a comfortable 3-0 lead at one point. His dismissal, however, proved to be the contest’s deciding factor.
While India dominated the series, there were players on both sides who made a huge impact with individual performances. In this article, we are going to talk about our BEST Combined XI from the ongoing England vs India series.
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Deepak Hooda and Dawid Malan open the innings
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Image Source – Twitter.
Deepak Hooda had only one chance in the series, but he took advantage of it by scoring some crucial runs in the first game in Southampton. Hooda scored 33 runs off 17 balls under extreme pressure, and it was one of the knocks that helped India post a match-winning total of 198/8.
Dawid Malan started the first two games, but despite scoring 21 and 19, he was unable to make an impact. However, the southpaw made the most of his opportunities in the third game, taking the Indian bowlers to the cleaners at regular intervals. He led the Three Lions in scoring with 77 runs from 39 deliveries at an impressive strike rate of 197.4, propelling them to 215/7.
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Suryakumar Yadav, Moeen Ali, and Liam Livingstone strengthen the middle order
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Image Source – Twitter.
Liam Livingstone, who wowed everyone in the IPL 2022, struggled in the first two games of the series. After failing to trouble the scorers in the first T20I, he returned after scoring 15 in the second. The power-wickets hitter’s column was also empty in all three appearances as he was unable to contain the Indian batters.
In the third match, the English all-rounder rediscovered his form, finishing unbeaten on 42 runs from 29 deliveries. Livingstone’s finishing touches enabled England to score well over 200 points.
Suryakumar Yadav was arguably the series’ most consistent batter. While he scored 39 in the first match, he was dismissed for 15 after a good start in the second. Despite this, Yadav kept India’s hopes alive in the final game, when India was reduced to 31/3.
He single-handedly tormented the English bowlers, registering his first T20I tonne in the process. The Mumbai cricketer put India on the verge of victory with a blistering 55-ball 117 at an incredible strike rate of 212.7. However, he was out in the penultimate over as the Men in Blue fell 17 runs short.
Moeen Ali, the star all-rounder, also performed admirably. In the first game, he kept England in the hunt by scoring 36 runs off 20 deliveries. He quickly followed it up with 35. He was also very impressive with the ball, finishing with three wickets in three games.
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Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja come in as the all-rounders
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Image Source – Twitter.
Ravindra Jadeja did not play in the first game, but he was India’s savior with the bat in the crucial second game, scoring an unbeaten 46 runs off 29 deliveries to help India post a challenging total of 170/8. While he had gone wicketless with the ball in the previous two games, the southpaw’s crucial knock in the second game was enough to help India take an unassailable 2-0 lead as the Men in Blue won by 49 runs.
In the first T20I against England, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya roared back to form with a Player of the Match all-round performance, scoring a 33-ball 51 and registering figures of 4/33. However, Pandya was unable to maintain his consistency in the following game, scoring only 12 points and finishing with 1/29. He did not play in the third game.
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Yuzvendra Chahal, Richard Gleeson, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Reece Topley form the bowling attack
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Image Source – Twitter.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar twice got England’s new limited-overs captain Jos Buttler’s number and even made explosive opener Jason Roy look clueless against his swing. Kumar finished the series with four wickets, his best spell being 3/15 in the second match, which earned him the Player of the Match award. For the final game, the UP cricketer was rested.
In the T20I series, Reece Topley was one of England’s most consistent bowlers. While he did not play in the second game, Topley made the most of his opportunities in the final match, winning Player of the Match with figures of 3/22 to help England win by 17 runs.
Yuzvendra Chahal has been on a roll with the ball in hand in recent months, and he carried that form with him. He took two wickets in each of the first two games and was rested for the third game despite bowling series-winning spells.
Richard Gleeson was the talk of the town during the second T20I, where he dismissed Virat Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma, and Rishabh Pant on debut, finishing with figures of 3/15 from four overs, including a maiden. What made the occasion even more special was that the speedster was wearing his first national jersey at the age of 34. In the third game, the senior pacer took Ravindra Jadeja’s wicket to finish with figures of 1/31 from four overs.
