After a gruelling test series in which the home side came out on top, India and England will battle it out in the 5-match T20I series in Ahmedabad. Ahead of the World Cup T20 in India later this year, both teams will be looking to try out combinations and observe how the players fare at their respective roles. 

Bharat Army will be out there to support our beloved team, join us for India vs England T20 Series in Ahmedabad as we take a look at the India vs England T20 Schedule, Squads, Predictions, Power players and a preview of the exciting series.

India vs England T20 Schedule:

All matches will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera at Ahmedabad. The T20I matches will start at 7 PM IST and the toss will be held 30 minutes prior to that. 

1st T20I- 12th March

2nd T20I- 14th March

3rd T20I- 16th March

4th T20I- 18th March

5th T20I- 20th March

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Squads: 

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.

England: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.

Bharat Army Predictions for India vs England T20 Series:

India 3-2 England

The battle in this series is among two teams who are probably, at their full-strength, the best in the world in the shortest formats of the game. Unlike the test series, the visitors will be fielding their 11 best players unless there are any fitness concerns. But in conditions that the home side is familiar with the men in blue will be entering the T20 series as favourites and we predict that they will edge out the Englishmen by a close scoreline of 3-2 in the 5-match T20I series in Ahmedabad. 

Bharat Army Power player Predictions: Most Runs

Virat Kohli-

Whenever India takes the field in International cricket, Virat Kohli is the centre of attraction and grabs more eyeballs than anyone else. He was the leading run-scorer against Australia in their own backyard as he scored 134 runs at a strike rate of 142 and a healthy average of 44. At No. 3, the Indian captain will be a vital cog in India’s setup and will be playing the role of an anchor, it won't be a major surprise if he ends as the leading run-getter of the T20I series. 

Bharat Army Power player Predictions: Most Wickets

Yuzvendra Chahal- 

Kohli’s RCB teammate has been the spearhead of India's bowling attack in the format of the game. During the recently-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, the tracks were favouring spinners and if that's the case in the upcoming series, Chahal’s value will get ameliorated in the T20 setup. Even if the pitches are batting-friendly, Chahal will still be the captain’s go-to bowler as he has been for his IPL side over the years at RCB’s home ground, the Chinnaswamy stadium, which is considered to be the graveyard of spinners. 

He has picked 93 wickets in the last 3 years in T20 cricket at a parsimonious economy rate of 7.6 RPO. Chahal will be expected to dominate the England batting line-up. 

India vs England Preview:

India will be without Jasprit Bumrah, who is unarguably the best Indian bowler in the format, as he has opted out of the limited-overs leg due to personal reasons. In his absence, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be playing the role of leading the attack. The Sunrisers Hyderabad pacer is making his comeback after an injury during the early stages of IPL 2020 ruled him out of international cricket for several months. T Natarajan will be a guaranteed starter after finishing the T20I series against Australia as the leading wicket-taker with 6 wickets in the 3-match series at an economy rate of 6.92. His ability to bowl the yorkers at will, which he displayed during the IPL 2020 and the series against Australia, will be key against the visiting side having a long batting line-up. 

It will be interesting to see whether India will opt to play 3 pacers or 3 spinners in the T20 series. Considering that Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and either of Washington Sundar or Axar Patel are guaranteed starters, the battle for the 5th bowler’s spot will be between one of Patel and Sundar, Tewatia, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur. If Hardik pandya is fit to bowl, the team management might prefer three spinners at Ahmedabad, but if he is not, 3 pacers might be a way to go. 

But the selection headache isn’t just in the bowling department. The batting line-up also has few certainties. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya will be taking the field in the first T20I. Among the openers, KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan will battle it out. Rahul has been the best Indian opener in the recent IPLs but his strike-rate has been an area of concern. If he improves on his intent, the KXIP captain will be opening with Rohit Sharma. 

Shreyas Iyer has done no wrong in T20Is, but debutant Suryakumar Yadav has been better at attacking spinners in the IPL and hence there is a dilemma on who will be India’s no. 4 in t20Is.

With no southpaws in the top 4, Rishabh Pant’s role as a finisher at No. 5 will be crucial. Since Jan 2017, the keeper has been phenomenal in the death overs in the T20 format (excluding T20Is) having batted at a strike rate of 226. 

On the other hand, England has less questions to answer than their counterparts. Jason Roy and Jos Buttler will open the batting and will be followed by Dawid Malan, Ben Stokes and Eoin Morgan. Bairstow’s poor run of form, albeit in a different format, might just give Sam Billings an opportunity to display what he possesses as a middle-order batsman.

In the bowling department, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan will be the pacers and Adil Rashid will be lead spinners. In all likelihood, Moeen Ali will be the all-rounder of the team.