England vs Pakistan 1st T20I Preview: Pakistan need to call upon mercurial nature to down England seniors

One can totally see Pakistan get whitewashed against the assembled England ODI squad, and then stun the experienced lot.

LIVE SCORES - England vs Pakistan 1st T20I 

Can Pakistan recover from ODI embarrassment?

Had you been under a rock for the duration of the Pakistan-England ODI series, having gone into hibernation shortly after knowing how badly COVID-19 had affected the England camp, with the ECB having to name a completely fresh squad and come to consciousness after the the end of the series, you would struggle to believe the bottomline.

3-0 was always on the cards, but in favour of Pakistan and not the other way around, particularly with an inexperienced England squad which had only James Vince and Ben Stokes with more than 10 ODIs.

While England deserve all the credit for their brilliant showing in the ODIs, Pakistan have every reason to be cross with themselves, as stated by head coach Misbah-ul-Haq, for not executing their plans.

Apart from the final ODI, the Pakistan batsmen struggled to come to terms with the liberal swing on offer. Having arrived from the PSL where the ball was coming straight onto the bat, it was certainly a big change for them.

Nevertheless, they are likely to get a bit more batting friendly conditions in the T20I series and will look to make the most of them.

England have big guns back

The good news for England is that they have their white ball regulars back after having returned negative COVID-19 tests. Stand-in ODI captain Ben Stokes has been rested to be back in his best shape for the test series against India. Same is the case with other multi-format players like Sam Curran, Mark Wood and Chris Woakes.

Sam Billings, who was part of the white ball set up against Sri Lanka, also misses out. Perhaps, the England management is looking at him as the backup wicketkeeper with Ben Foakes injured and James Bracey not being able to make a mark against New Zealand.

Jos Buttler, after recovering from a calf tear, is also back in the reckoning and is all set to open the batting with Jason Roy. Lewis Gregory has clearly been picked as the like-for-like replacement for Sam Curran and is set to make the playing XI.

Mahmood, Gregory to get a game straightaway

Same is the case with Saqib Mahmood, who did his reputation no harm after a Player of the Series winning performance in the Pakistan ODIs. With Adil Rashid and Chris Jordan certainties to start, there are as many as four players whom England can pick for the remaining spot.

David Willey, Jake Ball, Matt Parkinson and Moeen Ali are all in contention for the role. If England want to go in with an extra spinner keeping the upcoming T20 World Cup in mind, Matt Parkinson or Moeen Ali will be in with a shout, otherwise one of David Willey or Jake Ball is expected to play.

Rizwan, Azam and Zaman - Pakistan's top 3

Pakistan will have a few different players and a few different combinations as compared to the ODIs. Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman will form their top 3, with Mohammad Hafeez making an entry at number 4.

Having tried the likes of Haider Ali, Asif Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed, Pakistan will now have Sohaib Maqsood at number 5.

All-rounders galore

One of Imad Wasim or Mohammad Nawaz will be in the role of the bowling all-rounder to lengthen the batting alongside Faheem Ashraf. Shadab Khan further provides balance to Pakistan. Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf will be Pakistan's leading pacers.

Any sensible bloke will back England to beat Pakistan, with the hosts back to close to full strength. But, trust Pakistan to defy all cricketing logic.

Here's a look at the probable playing XIs:

England - Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Eoin Morgan (c), Liam Livingstone, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood 

Pakistan - Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohaib Maqsood, Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim/Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf

© Cricket World 2021