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- India and England will play a five-match T20 series starting in Kolkata on January 22nd.
- The two nations have previously played 24 T20 internationals with India winning 13 and England 11
- In India, the two nations have played ten matches, India has won six, and England four.
- The last time the two nations met in this format was in the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final. India won the match by 68 runs.
India is the No.1 ranked T20 nation in the world. They are also the current T20 World Cup holders, having won the trophy for a second time in 2024.
They will host England, the No. 3 ranked team in the game’s shortest format.
The tour of India will be their first under the guidance of England’s new white ball head coach Brendon McCullum. The Three Lions’ Test match coach replaces Matt Mott, who left after England’s appalling performances in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
The two nations will play a best-of-five match series across India, starting in Kolkata, and ending in Mumbai. The full itinerary is:
- 1st T20I: Wednesday 22 January, Eden Gardens, Kolkata
- 2nd T20I: Saturday 25 January, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
- 3rd T20I: Tuesday 28 January, Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot
- 4th T20I: Friday 31 January, MCA Stadium, Pune
- 5th T20I: Sunday 2 February, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
India vs. England Series Winner Betting
India is missing Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the series against England. They also have no Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, after both retired in the wake of the 2024 T20 World Cup win.
England is without Ben Stokes. But other than their inspirational Test skipper (who may have been left out even if fit), the tourists look to be at full strength.
Despite this, India is the favorite to win the series at -163 with the best cricket betting sites.
Having a home advantage, we expected India to have shorter odds. But, given the players missing from the squad, their odds are understandable.
England is +130 to win the series.
The hosts do have a full-strength squad to pick from. But given their recent poor form, and this being the first time since the World Cup that they have assembled their strongest squad, it might take a game or two before Brendon McCullum settles on his preferred starting XI.
In the props markets, the correct score betting is as follows:
- India 5-0 +900
- India 4-1 +333
- India 3-2 +200
- England 5-0 +2000
- England 4-1 +700
- England 3-2 +250
Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav are the +210 joint favorites to be the top Indian run scorers. Arshdeep Singh is the +250 favorite to be the top Indian bowler.
For England, their captain and leader, Jos Buttler is the clear favorite to be the team’s top run scorer at +175.
The English also have a clear frontrunner in the betting to be the top bowler, with Adil Rashid leading the market at +275.
India
Jasprit Bumrah is the headline omission from the 15-man Indian squad named on January 11th.
The all-format quick bowler had back issues during the 5th and final Test of the recent series defeat to India. And even if he had been fit to face England, the chances are the premier Indian quick would have been rested for this series.
Joining Bumrah on the sidelines is Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal. In their absence, wicket-keeping duties are expected to be taken up by Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel.
The headline selection in the Indian squad was the return of the veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami. The 34-year-old hasn’t played for India since the 50-Over World Cup final, in 2023.
Shami’s return adds some much-needed experience to the Indian attack in Bumrah’s absence. The full squad is below:
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk)
England
The England white-ball team will have new head coach Brendon McCullum leading them for the first time when they take on India.
Already wielding influence, there are no half-measures with this squad. It’s as strong as it could be with the possible exception of Ben Stokes. McCullum clearly wants to hit the ground running.
Jos Buttler will resume his role as captain. He missed the majority of the second half of last year with a persistent calf problem, only returning to the side for the T20 leg of the tour of the West Indies in November. The full England squad is as follows:
Jos Buttler (c), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith (wc), Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood
Best bets
Onto our cricket picks, and we are leaning towards a home win. We expected India to be shorter than -163, so we are not passing up those odds.
There is still too much uncertainty about this England team. For example, where is Jos Buttler going to bat? He could open, or he could come in first wicket down.
There are still also questions about the balance of the visiting team. And the series could be a couple of games old by the time England settles on their strongest and most well-balanced starting XI.
If England is to sneak a series win, it will be by the odd game. So a cover bet on 3-2 England at +250 in the props market is worth considering.
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