The second ODI between India and England is scheduled to take place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Friday. Despite being restricted to just a par score, India’s new-look bowling attack made life difficult for the world champions England in the first ODI. Riding on the exploits of debutants Krunal Pandya and Prasidh Krishna, the hosts managed to find the solution to the early assault of Jonny Bairstow.
However, India will need to deal with Shreyas Iyer’s injury, who has been ruled out of the series. But with the likes of Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav waiting in the wings, India will be eyeing seal the series against England in the second game. Speaking of England, they would be ruing losing the first ODI as their aggressive approach in the game backfired which forced them to surrender to the Indian bowlers in the middle overs.
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However, the reigning world champions can overturn their fortunes, with Eoin Morgan itching to level the series. England’s bowlers will need to come up with a better performance in order to breach India’s supremely talented batting unit. Team India will be the favorite team to win Friday’s game, with England lacking experience on the bowling front. However, Eoin Morgan and his men have enough firepower to level the series in what promises to be a cracking game of ODI cricket in Pune.
Here are some fantasy XI predictions for the game:
Wicket-Keepers
Jos Buttler seems to be a better pick as he has been known for making a strong comeback and he will be much more effective on pitches in Pune. However, for India, Rishabh Pant will be keeping the wickets as he is known for playing match-winning knocks, but in order to maintain the balance of the Fantasy XI, Buttler seems the better pick.
Batsmen
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jason Roy, and Eoin Morgan have always been the prime contenders for fantasy cricket. Even, Shikhar Dhawan also is added in fantasy cricket and that will depend on the balance of the squad. Apart from them, there are some useful batsmen in the line-ups as well, like Sam Billings, and Suryakumar Yadav.
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All-rounder
There are some really reliable all-rounders in both teams but citing the pitch in Pune, Hardik Pandya, Moeen Ali, and Ben Stokes seems to be the perfect fit. Apart from them, the good all-rounder for fantasy cricket is Sam Curran.
Bowlers
Both the teams don’t have decent bowling line-ups but they don’t have practiced a lot. Bowlers like Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Mark Wood become the obvious choices for the Fantasy XI on the dusty track at the MCA Stadium. Apart from them, some crucial bowlers can be like, Kuldeep Yadav, Reece Topley, and Adil Rashid.
Fantasy Suggestion #1: Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Virat Kohli (vc), Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Hardik Pandya, Mark Wood, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, and Rohit Sharma
Fantasy Suggestion #2: Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Mark Wood (vc), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Krunal Pandya
