3 Things To Watch Out During India vs England 4th T20I In Pune

Bhargav Dixit

Liam Livingstone plays a shot. [Source: @englandcricket/X]Liam Livingstone plays a shot. [Source: @englandcricket/X]

Just over three months after New Zealand registered a rare away Test series victory against India in Pune, international cricket will return to the city albeit in another format. England, who were part of the inaugural international match at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium 12 years ago, would be looking to register their first T20I win here on Friday.

Assuming it happens, the visitors will stay alive in the series before the fifth match in Mumbai. In addition to it, below are three players who will grab attention during the fourth India-England T20I tomorrow:

1. Sanju Samson’s Battle Against Pace

Out of the 41 times he has been dismissed at the highest level, India wicket-keeper batter Sanju Samson has been found wanting against fast bowlers 25 times in comparison to spinners dismissing him 14 times.

Coming on the back of a career-high in South Africa, Samson has scored just 34 runs at a strike rate of 103.03 across the first three T20Is. Dismissed by England speedster Jofra Archer and having not looked at his best against Mark Wood either, Samson’s dismissals have started to give birth to doubts around his capability to face express pace.

In all T20s, Samson getting out to pacers 147 times as compared to spinners on 85 occasions further vindicates the issue. As an opener, Samson can’t afford to have shortcomings against fast bowling. Thereby, it will be interesting to see if he’s able to counter Archer and Wood in the imminent match.

2. Will Harry Brook Be Able To Play Spin?

England vice-captain Harry Brook is living at the other end of the spectrum. Not just finding it difficult to play top-quality spin, Brook has appeared clueless against the likes of Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi thus far.

In nine limited-overs innings in India till now, all Brook has managed are 207 runs at an average of 23 and a strike rate of 113.73. Dismissed by spinners on six different occasions, the right-handed batter will have to come up with something special in order to not allow the hosts to take him lightly in the all-important middle overs.

3. Mohammad Shami’s Spell

Returning to international cricket after more than 14 months, India fast bowler Mohammed Shami bowled decently in Rajkot but wasn’t able to fulfil fans’ expectations. Starting with bowling his full quote of four overs, fans would be hoping for Shami to at least pick wickets with the new ball.

Readers must note that the 34-year-old player hasn’t picked a T20I wicket against England in the last decade. Speaking of this particular ground, all Shami has played here is a lone Test match over five years ago.