India v England
Saturday 25 January, 13:30
TV: live on Sky Sports
India v England Second T20 team news
India barely broke sweat in handing England a humbling eight-wicket loss in game one. They certainly have no need to make any changes for the contest in Chennai, a surface which gives them the opportunity to ram home their spin advantage.
Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi bowled 12 overs for a combined 65 for five at Eden Gardens. Considering that dominance, India might consider playing a fourth genuine spin option. With Nitish Kumar Reddy not bowling in game one Washington Sundar may be under consideration, although Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma are part-time options.
Possible India XI: Samson, Abhishek, Sky, Tilak, Hardik, Rinku, Axar, Sundar, Bishnoi, Varun, Arshdeep
England captain Jos Buttler has demanded his players show more aggression. It's probably the most he can expect because there doesn't appear to be an obvious fix in terms of players in or out who could take on India's spinners. England are just poor players of spin.
A switch in time might be Jamie Smith coming in for Ben Duckett with Buttler returning to the opening slot but England will want to show faith in the XI that lost in Kolkata. it is the McCullum way. That means we remain wholly unconvinced by Jamie Overton at No 7. Rehan Ahmed could replace him here if the visitors feel the pitch is such a turner that they need more options.
Possible England XI: Duckett, Salt, Buttler, Brook, Bethell, Livingstone, J Overton/Rehan, Atkinson, Archer, Rashid, Wood
India v England Second T20 pitch report
England are likely to regret missing the opportunity to post a big total at Eden Gardens on a road. It now gets very tricky (and tacky) indeed. If one could pick a pitch to suit the home team it would be Chennai. The Super Kings have dominated here for years with an army of spinners.
In the last four years in night matches 12 out of 23 have been won by the team batting first. So there is no comfort to a toss bias that England can find. The RPO in that time is 8.15 with under 165 in first innings coming in five times in the last 12. With an early 20-over line of unders 174.5 (which may creep up) England may look ripe for a sell.
There are pitches, however, at the Chidambaram which are road-like. More than 200 in the first dig was notched three times in the 2024 IPL in eight games, one of those producing a win for both teams to score 220. It would be ironic having bet big on runs at Kolkata that they pick a flat one here.
To that end, total sixes represents a fair gamble. In the last four years of night games, shorting Sportsbook's line of under 15.5 would have won 20 times in 23. If we get done by the wicket, so be it.
Often we talk up an outsider on the basis that a pitch or toss bias can prove to be a great leveller. They need some help from conditions to give them a foothold.
England are most definitely that team judging by game one. But there is precious little evidence that they will get any help. India are no better than 1.528/15 and although that is mighty short, they are the world champions and a superior version at that.
The best chance for England is if they bat first and the pitch is good for batting, although why India would do that is anyone's guess. And that appears to be what we are betting on. If India look for a surface that spins they go 2-0 up.
Suryakumar Yadav's poor run of form continued in Kolkata with a duck. His win rate in the last year is now down to 15.7% with just three wins in 19. Sportsbook have pushed him out to 7/24.50. The pressure of captaincy appears to have got to him and he just can't play with the same freedom. A bet on him is whether form is temporary, class is permanent. Hardik Pandya is the most underrated of the home batters with a rate of 16.6% and a price of 17/29.50.
Buttler boosted his win rate to 37.5 but we don't go in for back-to-back top batsman wins. We have inklings for Jacob Bethell at 11/112.00 and Smith at 7/18.00 copping at some stage.
With spin possible, it is noticable that two of the last three man of the match awards have gone to spinners. Axar Patel at 14/115.00 and Sundar at the same price are interesting because of what they could add to their appeal with the bat. For England we keep faith with Liam livingstone notching a fifth win in 19 on top bowler at inflated odds of 7/18.00.
Back Washington Sundar player of the match
Back Axar Patel player of the match
Back Liam Livingstone top England bowler
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