India will be hoping to bounce back from their disappointment in the Test match against England when they take on the side in the first of their three T20Is at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Thursday, July 7. The team will be boosted by the return of skipper Rohit Sharma back in the fold, Team India will look to forget the curse of Edgbaston and start afresh with ‘Mission T20’ in mind as they take on the Jos Buttler-studded England in the series opener.
Meanwhile, Test players Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Shreyas Iyer, and Rishabh Pant will join the T20 squad from the second game onwards. The last T20I series that India played was against Ireland and the team, led by Hardik Pandya, secured wins in both the matches of the series as the team begin their preparations for the T20 World Cup.
IND vs ENG, 1st T20I Weather report
The first three days of the rescheduled fifth Test were marred by different spells of rain, but the sun seems to be taking precedence ahead of the first T20I fixture. According to Accuweather.com, the highest temperature during the day will touch 24° Celsius and might fall as low as 13° Celsius, which should be the temperature around the time of the match, which kicks off at 10:30 PM IST (6 PM local time). The good news for fans is that rains seem highly unlikely, with no amount of precipitation expected as well.
India's record at Rose Bowl, Southampton
The Men in Blue are yet to play a T20I match at the Rose Bowl, but have a formidable record in ODIs at the venue — They have played five ODIs here, winning three and losing two. The Rose Bowl Pitch often remains flat and is suited for batting in white-ball formats and that should not be challenging for India vs England T20I as well. It lacks grass and the only source of encouragement for bowlers is some assistance from the weather. Fans can expect a high-scoring T20I match on Thursday.
