The miserable batting performance by Team India on a decent batting track in Ahmedabad was the reason for their downfall in the first T20I against England. The Indian batsmen failed to get any momentum to their innings, having lost three early wickets inside the first five overs without getting runs under the belt. England bowlers were consistent with their lines, lengths, and variations which allowed them to keep the screws tight on the Indian batsmen.
The underwhelming batting display meant that India was restricted to 124 for 7 in their 20 overs, despite Shreyas Iyer’s 48-ball 67. Jofra Archer bowled the spell of 3 for 23 in his four overs. India’s downfall was slightly predictable after their top order of Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli managed 4, 1, and 0 respectively. On the other hand, England batted without any pressure for the first time on this tour.
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Jason Roy played a blistering knock of 49 runs from 32 balls. Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan, and Jonny Bairstow scored 28, 24 and 26 respectively as England managed to chase down the score in just 15.3 overs, sealing off a dominating win by eight wickets. India will be under pressure to come back and perform much better in the second match, as another win will put them in a win-all situation moving forward in this series.
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 Ahmedabad. 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, Dawid Malan, 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 Shreyas Iyer, 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 Ahmedabad, 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 Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Chris Jordan become the obvious choices for the Fantasy XI on the dusty track at the Motera Stadium. Apart from them, some crucial bowlers can be like, Deepak Chahar, Mark Wood, and Adil Rashid.
Fantasy Suggestion #1: KL Rahul (c), Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Jonny Bairstow (vc), Ben Stokes, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood.
Fantasy Suggestion #2: KL Rahul, Jos Buttler (vc), Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Eoin Morgan, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Jofra Archer.
