England and India to set the tone for the summer in Bristol

India would have arrived in the United Kingdom with the express purpose of not only beating England in each of the three formats but proving their dominance.
For Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri the Three Lions represent a trophy to go up on the wall, a conquest for the heroes to a billion adoring fans.
In Cardiff England showed themselves to be more than just sleeping lions as they found a way to counter both the potent India top order and the spin guile of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
Kohli will now look to put England away in emphatic fashion while hosts will need to be wary of the pushback from India.
If momentum were a real thing then it would be on the line on Sunday, but something that is very real is dressing room morale, and while England will see wholesale changes of personnel when the format switches to the longest form of the game, India retain many of the same players and as a touring team need to stay motivated.
England should be able to bounce back from almost anything during the long summer but for India it will be important to stay on top and ride the wave to a rare clean sweep away from home in bilateral cricket.
They could of course stumble at the first hurdle if England come up with another gameplan like the one that saw them power to a five wicket victory in Cardiff.
The hosts might look to rotate their options with the ball again to keep India guessing on that front and will certainly want to revisit their approach to bowling to Suresh Raina, who has made light work of picking off bouncers.
India’s commitment to rotation might be tested with the series on the line and the feeling that the balance of the side is close to perfect.
Umesh Yadav has been brilliant up front and Bhuvneshwar Kumar bounced back from an indifferent start to put England under pressure chasing a sub-par total.
Jonny Bairstow got stuck into Kuldeep but he had troubled the top order as had Yuzvendra Chahal whom Alex Hales eventually got hold of after having a good long look at him so the tourists look settled with the ball.
Down the ground!!
ViIDEOS/SCORECARD: https://t.co/LIlp8XyKSB#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/ttWqt5ldGN
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 6, 2018
Changes may come at the top of the order though it would be harsh to leave out any of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma or Lokesh Rahul.
Ben Stokes is apparently ready to return for England who similarly suffer from the problem of who to leave out, as it stands Jake Ball was the weakest link in Cardiff having come in for Moeen Ali.
India should be favourites on paper but will need to be at their best to put England away.
Details
England v India
County Ground, Bristol
3rd T20I
Sunday 8 July, 13:00 GMT, 14:00 local
Squads:
England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, David Willey, Ben Stokes.
India: Virat Kohli (c), Yuzvendra Chahal, Deepak Chahar, Shikhar Dhawan, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Siddarth Kaul, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav
Latest
-
News
I very much still want to play everything – Hundred history-maker Will Smeed
The rising star of the white-ball game could be on England’s radar.
-
News
Lauren Winfield-Hill stars as Oval Invincibles begin title defence with big win
The home side defeated the Northern Superchargers by nine wickets.
-
News
Sam Curran the main man as Oval Invincibles beat Northern Superchargers
Curran scored 60 in his side’s three-wicket win at the Kia Oval.
-
News
England opener Alex Lees keen to see aggressive approach adopted in county game
The Durham batter has used the break in Test cricket to spread the word.
-
News
‘It was awesome’ – Will Smeed ends his 90s curse to hit Hundred’s first century
The youngster had fallen short of a maiden century on multiple occasions during the first half of 2022.
-
News
Will Smeed becomes first batter to hit ton in Hundred during Birmingham win
The opener cracked an unbeaten 101 off 50 balls.
-
News
Women’s game on upward trend and schools an important target – Anya Shrubsole
The 30-year-old pace bowler was restricted to competing against boys during childhood.
-
News
Australia captain Meg Lanning taking break from cricket for personal reasons
The 30-year-old had been due to represent Trent Rockets in The Hundred.
-
News
Tributes pour in for former umpire Rudi Koertzen following death aged 73
The MCC said it was “saddened” to learn of Koertzen’s death.