India will aim for their fifth consecutive T20I series victory over England when the two teams clash in the third match of the series in Rajkot on Tuesday, June 28, 2025.
India, who haven't lost a bilateral T20I series to England since 2014, lead the ongoing five game series 2-0.
Their recent dominance includes a 2-1 home win in 2016-2017, a similar result away, a 3-1 triumph in India, and a 2-1 victory in England.
The new-look Indian side featuring IPL's star players, led by Suryakumar Yadav, has impressed with its aggressive batting and adaptability.
The first two T20 Internationals against England played on vastly different surfaces proved to be a challenge for the World champions but they emerge unscathed in both games, to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Despite contrasting surfaces in the first two games, the aggressive Indian unit have emerged unscathed, extending their winning streak to seven series since their last T20I series defeat in the West Indies in August 2023.
They have lived up to the tag of T20 World Champions, winning 15 out of the 17 games played since winning the World Cup triumph last June.
However, some concerns persist, particularly in the batting department. Sanju Samson, who came into the series on the back of some amazing form in T20Is recently, has struggled against the short ball, falling to the pull shot against Jofra Archer in both games.
His inconsistency is evident in his last 12 T20I innings, where he alternated between match-winning knocks and single-digit scores -- 58, 0, 0, 29, 10, 111, 107, 0, 0, 109 not out, 26, 5. He will have to find a way to ensure he doesn't give his wicket away in the early overs as he is capable of dominating the bowlers once he gets going.
Skipper Suryakumar's form is another talking point, with just one fifty from his last 10 innings. A team man to the core, he has shuffled his batting position between No. 3 and No, 4 to allow young Tilak Varma a few games at his favoured batting position at one drop.
Suryakumar's batting form has taken a dip since taking over as captain. His average has dropped to 30, even though he has maintained his strike rate at 165, for a total of 542 runs from 19 matches.
How captaincy has affected Suryakumar's batting in T20Is:
| Games | Innings | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| As Captain | 19 | 18 | 542 | 100 | 30.11 | 165.24 | 1 | 4 |
| Not As Captain | 61 | 58 | 2,040 | 117 | 43.4 | 168.17 | 3 | 17 |
| Overall | 80 | 76 | 2,582 | 117 | 39.72 | 167.55 | 4 | 21 |
In fact, he hasn't done much in the last three series -- against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa with a total of 230 runs from 10 matches.
Suryakumar's record in last three T20I series:
| Games | Innings | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| India in Sri Lanka 2024 | 3 | 3 | 92 | 58 | 30.67 | 195.74 | 0 | 1 |
| Bangladesh in India 2024 | 3 | 3 | 112 | 75 | 37.33 | 189.83 | 0 | 1 |
| India in South Africa 2024-2025 | 4 | 3 | 26 | 21 | 8.67 | 86.87 | 0 | 0 |
India will be hoping the big knock due from SKY's big blade comes in the third T20I in Rajkot on Tuesday, as the hosts aim to wrap up the series.
Young Abhishek Sharma (79 from 34 balls) and Tilak Varma (72 not out from 55 balls) -- both left-handers -- have played blistering knocks to guide India to victory in run chases in the first two games.
England have a lot of quality and experience in their bowling attack including Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Adil Rashid, but have struggled in key moments.
Their batting woes are even more glaring, with only Jos Buttler showing form with two good knocks of 68 and 45. The trio of Phil Salt, Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone have failed, scoring a combined 41 runs in two matches.
The highly-rated Brook has been disappointing, having fallen to spinner Chakravarthy twice, beaten by the wrong one two games in a row.
If England are to challenge India in the remaining three games, then they will need to find a way to dominate the Indian spinners in the middle overs.
In the bowling, England have to preferred to play with the four seamers plus two spinners combination, which hasn't yielded the desired results. They definitely looked short of a quality spinner during the closing stage of the second match in Chennai, when India managed to clinch a narrow two wicket victory in the final over.
With India preferring to play a host of spin all-rounders to take advantage of the slow pitches, Hardik Pandya has had to play as the second seamer, while a fit-again Mohammed Shami waits for his first game for India in nearly 15 months.
India are treading with caution in case of Shami. The fast bowler is desperate to get into the thick of things, but the team management is taking a measured approach, considering his long injury lay-off.
With Jasprit Bumrah's participation in the ICC Champions Trophy uncertain, Shami is expected to spearhead the bowling attack, making his fitness paramount for India in the coming months.
India used as many as five spin options in the second match in Chennai, including all-rounders Washington Sundar and Abhishek Sharma. With so many slow bowlers at their disposal, India could ponder bringing Shami in the third match in place of Ravi Bishnoi, who went wicketless in both matches.
While India will be keen to continue the momentum, England will want to step up in the remaining games.
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