CNN Central News & Network-ITDC India Epress / ITDC News Bhopal: England begin their final build-up for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup with a four-match series against Pakistan starting at Headingley on Wednesday, May 22. England have got their whole band back together for the series as the players departed from the IPL earlier than expected and with all of them coming together after a very long time, the home team would want to try all possible options and combinations and zero in on their first XI.
The spotlight is obviously on the returning pacer Jofra Archer, who has spent far too much time on the sidelines due to multiple injury layoffs and England would want to see how he fits in the fast bowling group with the likes of Reece Topley, Mark Wood and Chris Jordan too in the mix.
The batting line-up is mostly sorted but with Tom Hartley in the squad, England would want to give the left-arm spinner a go in the series before the T20 World Cup to test him out and if that could be one option with Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali and Jonny Bairstow fighting for two spots.
On the other hand, Pakistan have had a fair bit of T20 cricket in the past month or so with a series at home against New Zealand and last week against Ireland in Dublin. Pakistan won the series against Ireland but both victories came while chasing and the Men in Green would want to try out and hopefully learn to defend scores by testing themselves against the best ahead of the T20 World Cup.
It’s difficult for a series scheduled so close to an ICC event to have its standalone relevance but both teams look solid and have their share of strengths and weaknesses and some good cricket could give fans in the UK something to look forward to at the start of the English summer.
Full Schedule
Wed, May 22 – 1st T20I, Headingley, Leeds (11 PM IST)
Sat, May 25 – 2nd T20I, Edgbaston, Birmingham (7 PM IST)
Tue, May 28 – 3rd T20I, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (11 PM IST)
Thu, May 30 – 4th T20I, The Oval, London (11 PM IST)
When and where to watch England vs Pakistan T20 series live on TV and OTT in India?
The England-Pakistan series will kick off at 11 PM IST on Wednesday, May 22. The ENG vs PAK T20 series will be broadcast on Sony Sports Network on TV in India and the matches will be live streamed on the SonyLiv app and website. All four ENG vs PAK matches will also be live streamed on the Fancode and website.
