India in England: Batting firepower in focus in clash of heavyweights

A run-fest is on the cards at Old Trafford as India take on England in the first of three T20Is at Manchester Tuesday night (BCCI photo)

This will be a real test of firepower. India's feared batting line-up against England's daredevils. India's penchant for tall scores against England's ability to hit those massive sixes. It cannot get more exciting.

When India take on England in the first of three T20Is at Manchester later tonight, it will all come down to who can hold their nerves in a run-fest. And a run-fest, it surely will be. For a few years now, England have flattened their pitches out and their batsmen have found the strike capabilities that so far alluded them.

Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan and Joe Root make for scary batting line-up. These men made merry against Australia; they bullied a side at its weakest and rattled up the highest score in ODI history. Tall scores were chased down and in the T20I, England blasted past the 200-run mark as if that were par for the colours.

Not so long ago, that was not par for the course, not for English teams.

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And then there's the Indian team. Rohit Sharma, the only man with three double hundreds in ODIs and he very nearly became only the second man to score three T20I hundreds. Rohit was dismissed for 97 against Ireland in the first T20I of a two-match series which India won comfortably.

Rohit was off-colour for Mumbai Indians in the IPL but he is a different beast when it comes to India colours. Shikhar Dhawan is prolific in the shorter formats and he loves batting in England.

Eoin Morgan hoping to use confidence from Australia series vs India

Then there's the captain - Virat Kohli is forever up for a good fight. He does not have to prove anything but he never gives up the chance to lead from the front. Over the past few days, he has said the right things - the horror of the 2014 Test series does not weigh on his mind. He has since dominated England plenty times - over 600 runs in a five-Test series and then more runs in the ODIs (at home).

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In the Champions Trophy in England last year, Kohli was in fine form.

But those were different conditions, similar to what India will experience over the next fortnight for the limited-overs phase. Come the Test series, and dealing with the red leather against James Anderson and Stuart Broad will be a very different game.

Up for grabs!

Which side will be adding to their trophy collection after our three-match Vitality IT20 series against India?#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/g2jQiDRiqb

England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 2, 2018

However, for now, the battle will be fought out between some of the most accomplished limited-overs batsmen in the world. India have in their ranks a revamped KL Rahul, an enigmatic Dinesh Karthik and the reliable MS Dhoni, who turnend the clock back as Chennai Super Kings lifted the IPL on their return.