3 Special Facts About Wankhede Stadium Before India vs England 5th T20I



Mumbai will host the fifth India-England T20I. [Source: @sachin_rt/X]Mumbai will host the fifth India-England T20I. [Source: @sachin_rt/X]

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Almost three months after the last instance, Pune and Mumbai are hosting successive international matches yet again. While it had last happened during India-New Zealand Test series, the custom will repeat during the last match of the ongoing India-England T20I series tonight.

Set to host a dead-rubber contest; perhaps Wankhede Stadium will fulfil fans’ quest of watching a prototypical high-scoring encounter between these two T20I powerhouses. With a few hours remaining before the first ball to be bowled, let us go through three specialist facts about T20s at the Wankhede Stadium:

1. First India-England Mumbai T20I In Over 12 Years

For those who don’t know, the inaugural Mumbai T20I was played between India and England over 12 years ago. Impact-generating 30s from the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina had powered India to 177/8 after then-England captain Eoin Morgan had invited them to bat first.

Needing 3 runs to win in a last-ball thriller, Morgan had hit Ashok Dinda for a thumping six to seal a 6-wicket victory, whose foundation was led by an 82-run opening partnership between Michael Lumb and Alex Hales.

England white-ball captain Jos Buttler, who was at the other end when Morgan hit the winning six, is the only player who will be participating in both the matches. India head coach Gautam Gambhir will also be present, albeit in a different capacity.

2. India Unbeaten In Mumbai T20Is Since 2017

India, who failed to defend a 178-run target against England at the Wankhede Stadium in 2012, had also failed to defend 193 runs during the second ICC World Twenty20 2016 semi-final against West Indies at the same venue.

Since then, however, the home team has won three T20Is in a row here. In 2017, they defeated Sri Lanka by 5 wickets. While they defeated West Indies by 67 runs in 2019, Sri Lanka fell short by 2 runs a couple of years ago.

3. Suryakumar Yadav's Contrasting Returns

All set to lead India for the first time at his home ground, Suryakumar Yadav wouldn’t have got a better opportunity to return to form. Second-highest run-scorer in Mumbai T20s, Yadav has amassed 1,493 runs at an average of 38.28 and a strike rate of 156.66.

Readers must note that Yadav’s strike rate is the highest at this venue in this format (min. 500 runs). Additionally, apart from India wicket-keeper batter KL Rahul, the right-handed batter is the only other player to have touched the 100-run mark twice here.

Having done well as the captain of Mumbai and Mumbai Indians at this ground, Yadav would be itching to turn the tables with respect to his international record at this iconic venue. Having not scored a T20I half-century for seven innings for the first time in his career, the right-handed batter’s average of 5 across four limited-overs outings for India here is concerning.