India vs England 3rd T20I: Pitch report and weather forecast
What's the story
The third T20I match between India and England will be played at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Tuesday. The Indian side, led by Suryakumar Yadav, has taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match series after a thrilling win in Chennai. Despite their spirited performance at Eden Gardens, England's side led by Jos Buttler is now staring at a must-win situation to stay alive in the series. Here we look at the pitch report and weather forecast.
Pitch analysis
Rajkot's pitch favors high-scoring matches
The pitch at the Niranjan Shah Stadium is known to favor high-scoring games, which could work in favor of both teams. Team England, which has struggled on slower surfaces, may find this as an opportunity to flaunt their power-hitting skills. India's top order also has hard hitters who can potentially dominate the game if they fire collectively. As per ESPNcricinfo, teams chasing have won 41 of the 73 T20 matches here.
Weather forecast
Weather conditions and dew factor
The weather in Rajkot is expected to be between a high of 33 degrees Celsius in the morning and a low of 15 degrees Celsius in the evening, Accuweather reported. This drastic temperature drop could result in dew settling on the outfield as the match moves into the evening. Hence, the toss-winning team could opt to bowl first and benefit from better batting conditions later on. Meanwhile, the match will start at 7:00pm IST on January 28.
Team performance
England's struggles and India's spin advantage
Despite their batting lineup's struggles in the series so far, England have announced an unchanged playing XI for the third T20I. The team has especially struggled against Indian spinners, losing 11 out of 19 wickets to them in the first two matches. This puts pressure on captain Jos Buttler, who has been the top scorer for England in both games with scores of 68 (44) and 45 (30) respectively.
XIs
Here are the probable XIs
India's Probable XI: Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Dhruv Jurel/Mohammed Shami, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, and Varun Chakravarthy. England Playing XI: Ben Duckett, Philip Salt (wicket-keeper), Jos Buttler (captain), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, and Mark Wood.