4 Things India should do to win at Bristol

Team India is on the verge of winning the T20 series in the English Tour. So far only two T20 matches have been completed and England has managed to level it 1-1 at Cardiff.

England made a great comeback after a disappointing outing at Old Trafford, Manchester where they failed to decipher both Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav. With the help of Merlyn spin bowling machine, they had found a way to tackle India's spin. India looks favourite to win their first T20 Series in England.

They have successfully won the last two T20 series including Nidahas Trophy and Ireland T20 Series and are looking for a hat-trick. After a loss at Cardiff, the Indian team should look at his opponent and find ways to beat them in their own way. In their last five matches, India has lost just one T20 International. Here we take a look at the 4 things India should do in order to win the final T20 at Bristol on Sunday.

---

#1 Chasing after winning the toss

One of the main reasons for Indian team's loss in the previous T20 match on Friday was losing the toss.

Getting a big score after batting first may work in Indian conditions but may not work in the foreign soil particularly at Bristol.

Toss will be very crucial at Bristol and the First Innings Score has always been less than 140. Obviously, no International T20 has been played here at Bristol since 2011 in which Sri Lanka chased the target of 137.

England on the other hand after batting first lost nine wickets for 136 runs. And in most cases, the team batting second has won as that was evident in the T20 international match between Pakistan and England at Bristol in which latter lost to former who chased and won with a score of 148/5 on Aug 28 2006.

And in most probabilities, the pitch may offer very little assistance to spin as the straight boundary is very short and current Indian spinners have little experience.

#2 Top order doesn't lose concentration

The form of the top order will be crucial

A team needs a strong opening pair to start building the momentum. In the last two T20's Rohit Sharma has just scored 37 runs and just needs 14 runs to reach 2000, a landmark record which has only been done by Virat Kohli.

Shikhar Dhawan has scored just 14 runs in the last two T20 matches and looks to be losing his form. After a disappointing debut in T20 International against Zimbabwe in 2016, KL Rahul hit his second century In Manchester two years after his 1st T20 century against West Indies.

KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are the three batsmen who seem to be in good touch with top form.

As Dhoni may not open the batting, India should look to open with either Kohli or Rahul. Rohit and Dhawan have really struggled to tackle the bounce and swing offered by the English Bowlers.

They may come good in the ODI series ahead but they are really finding it hard in T20's.

#3 Bring in an outstanding bowling unit

After losing Jasprit Bumrah to a thumb injury, India certainly needs someone to bowl at the helm

In their last five T20 matches, India has used six seamers on the likes of Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Siddarth Kaul.

Yadav was quite impressive towards the end in the last T20 at Cardiff. But on the other hand, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was quite expensive as he bowled a couple of length balls.

As of now, there is no front line line seamer who could consistently exploit the English batsman by bowling swing as well as pace.

After losing Jasprit Bumrah to a thumb injury, India certainly needs someone to bowl at the helm.

Kaul had a decent debut against Ireland in the 2nd T20 last month when he took a wicket by just giving four runs off his two overs.

As the pitch is probably seamer friendly, either Kaul or Chahar may get a nod. They would certainly be in contention as they could bowl well as that was quite evident in their IPL performances in which they amazed with splendid performance.

Though rejected by Greg Chappell in 2008, Deepak Chahar came back with a power-packed performance in the Ranji Trophy.

His outstanding bowling was certainly evident in the recently held England A Tri-series in which he took 5/27 against West Indies A at Leicester on June 25, 2018, and 3/58 against England Lions at the Oval. Kaul hasn't played a game since his debut at Dublin.

#4 Stability in the middle order

If India needs a win, they should bring in an effective middle-order batsman to balance in the middle rather than over-dependence on Pandya's batting ability

Apart from Raina who got out in a well-set position in the last T20 match, there hasn't been a consistent middle order batsman. So far in their last five T20 matches, India has been with the middle-order batsman of the likes of Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey and Dinesh Karthik. Manish showed some character in the second T20 against Ireland last month while Dinesh Karthik gave a match-winning knock in the final of Nidahas Trophy in Bangladesh.

In the second T20 against Ireland, the ploy of sending in Hardik Pandya ahead of Dinesh Karthik proved successful with the former scoring 32 off just nine balls.

In their last five matches, Raina has scored 106 runs while Pandey has scored 91 runs. Karthik too has scored 72 runs in his last five matches.

If India needs a win, they should bring in an effective middle-order batsman to balance in the middle rather than over-dependence on Pandya's batting ability. In the last few matches, the form of Pandya has made India to send him up the order.

---

Can India win the T20 series against England? Sound off your opinions in the comments section below!