What

The only T20 international of the tour between India and England

When

October 29, 2011. The game begins at 20:00 pm, IST. The match will be streamed LIVE for viewers across the world on www.bcci.tv. Viewers in India can catch the action with a five-minute delay.

Where

Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The venue has never hosted a T20 International before. However, going by the experience of the matches played in the IPL, the Kolkata wicket generally assists spinners while the batsmen struggle to play their shots. Case in point, the final ODI of the five-match series recently played between the sides. Post that match, winning skipper MS Dhoni admitted that scoring runs on the wicket was not easy with the odd ball keeping low. If the teams are to make a T20 sparkler out of this game, the batsmen will need to overcome the odds that the surface presents. The spinners, on the other hand, will be hoping to call the shots.

The Teams

India will be tempted to keep the winning combination intact; the ODI series clean sweep, effected at Eden Garden, points to a healthy unit. Ravindra Jadeja’s 11 wickets in the ODI series, of which four came in the last game at this venue, and R Ashwin’s 10 wickets overall, make a good case for a spin-heavy attack. It remains to be seen whether the all-round option of Yusuf Pathan will be taken for this one-off game.

Graeme Swann, replacing the injured Stuart Broad as captain, will have to look at his options long and hard after the ODI whitewash. With the expert services of Kevin Pietersen missing in the last ODI, the team is beset by an additional problem. The skipper will be hoping a few of his batsmen, who’ve all got starts in the ODIs, will come up with a spirited innings which will earn the side their sole win of a punishing tour. On the bowling front, Swann will be looking to deliver a match-winning performance after an indifferent ODI series with the help of England’s leading wicket-taker in the ODIs, Steven Finn.

Trivia

• In batting terms, England have the second-lowest dot-percentage (37.17) after Australia (37.04).

• India’s economy-rate (7.90) is the second worst in T20Is after Bangladesh (7.94).

Head-to-head

Last meeting between India and England in a T20 international: Manchester – Aug 31, 2011

Brief scores: England 169/4 (19.3 overs) beat India 165 (19.4) by six wickets

Form guide in T20Is (most recent listed first):

India: Lost, Won, Won, Won, Won (1 loss, 4 wins)

England: Lost, Won, Won, Lost, Lost, (3 losses, 2 wins)

The Squads

India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Varun Aaron, Sreenath Aravind, R Ashwin, RA Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Praveen Kumar, Yusuf Pathan, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Rahul Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Robin Uthappa, R Vinay Kumar & Umesh Yadav

England: Graeme Swann (c), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Bairstow, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Tim Bresnan, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Jonathan Trott, Graham Onions, Jos Buttler (wk) & Alex Hales

All stats are as onOctober 27, 2011