by 17:26
Some early team news
Kings XI Punjab’s fast left arm makes his debut. Why has there been such a proliferation of cue ball lefties? Obviously its effectiveness has been a factor but there is no factory. Has there always been excess supply but limited demand?
17:21
the weather gets just right
Temperatures are forecast to drop to only 21C to 19C over the course of the match and there is only a <5% chance of rain coverage.
17:05
Jos Buttler on his captaincy style
My messages so far have been very similar to the last six or seven years.
I think some of us have been part of that group for a long time, as veteran players, and have always been able to express an opinion. I’ve spent a lot of time as Eoin’s vice-captain and sharing ideas and talking about the game, and we see it in a very similar way. So my message to this team is very consistent with that. Try to be clear and communicate that you will always want us to take that positive and aggressive option when we can.
I don’t want us to be afraid of losing, and I think that’s been set in stone for a number of years. So there is not necessarily a massive change.
16:15
Goodnight
And welcome to coverage of the first of a three-game Twenty20 series between England and India, which begins tonight at the Ageas Bowl. It’s a new era for England’s white ball teams after the retirement of Eoin Morgan. Jos Buttler has captained five times before in this format, winning three and losing two, but this is the first match in a long-term spell, taking place at the T20 World Cup in Australia this October, next year’s World Cup. in India and, if it is successful and wants to continue, another World T20 in the Caribbean and the United States scheduled for June 2024.
England multi-format players Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes will not play in the series but will play in all three 50+ matches, while England’s top T20 bowler Adil Rashid has received permission from the Cricket Board of England and Wales to miss both series to make their Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
There are opportunities in those absences for Phil Salt and Harry Brook to claim the batting spot from Morgan, Matt Parkinson to offer competition to Rashid and Richard Gleeson to force his way to the side as a right-arm closer given England’s recent obsession with the left. fast arms in limited overs games. Gleeson, the last of the last few developers at the age of 34, might not get his chance at Southampton with Chris Jordan likely to continue alongside the three left-handers: Tymal Mills, Sam Curran and Reece Topley.
Rohit Sharma has recovered from Covid and will lead India from the top of the order, with a team of IPL ‘rock stars’ at his disposal, including Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav and Dinesh Karthik. There are no test players, except for Rohit, who had to sit out test five, in the matchday squad and there may be no place tonight for the speedy Umran Malik, but he, like Gleeson, should get his chance. over the weekend, either at Edgbaston on Saturday or 24 hours later at Trent Bridge. And speaking of Edgbaston:
England have won five of their last six T20s at the Rose Bowl, having lost all six shots. Morgan was always willing to chase, an attitude that has rubbed off on Stokes. But since late 2014, when Morgan succeeded Stuart Broad as T20 captain, they have won 19 of 32 games when batting first, 24 of 39 when chasing, with win rates of 59 and 61 percent, respectively.
Dew shouldn’t be a deal breaker in Australia in October and November, late spring Down Under, or here in July, but providing relatively inexperienced bowling attacking practice to defend a total could prove invaluable in competition, since it was his undoing in the final. in 2016 and semi-last year.
