(Cricket news) India defeated England 2-1 in the away T20I series against England. The series was a perfect stepping stone before the T20 World Cup later this year. India's performance in the first two games was impeccable but in the 3rd match it was somehow disappointing apart from Suryakumar Yadav's magnificent hundred. England did have a few key players missing from the squad but it was still a very good team which was convincingly outplayed by India in the first two matches. India have a lot of positives to take from the match but at the same time there are a few concerns for Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the player of the series for his incredible performance with the new ball. He took 4 wickets at an economy of 4.16 in 2 matches. His contribution was much better than the stats suggest because all his wickets were very crucial. Bhuvneshwar's form in this format has been very good and he will be a key part of India's plan for the T20 World Cup. He always had the ability to swing the ball both ways but now he is generating decent pace as well which shows that he is fit which is good news for team India. Jasprit Bumrah only played the 2nd match in which he was lethal as always. Yuzvendra Chahal also had a good series with the ball as did Harshal Patel.

Virat Kohli's bad run of form continued as he failed to make an impact in both the games he played. Rohit Sharma very vocally defended Kohli in the press conference after the series and said that Kohli will be backed by the management. It's not just that Kohli is failing to score runs but other players fighting for a spot in the side are performing well. India is spoilt for options in the middle order. Rishabh Pant was given the opportunity to open the innings but when KL Rahul returns, Pant will have to bat in the middle order. Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda and Shreyas Iyer will all be battling for the 3 spots assuming Hardik Pandya occupies the other spot as the All-rounder. 

Pandya's performance is a very big positive for India, especially his bowling performance. He was India's highest wicket taker in the series with 5 scalps and with the bat he scored 63 runs in the 2 matches he played. Pandya will now also feature in the ODI series which will be interesting to see. Suryakumar Yadav also had a good tournament as he finished as the highest run scorer. His innings of 117 off 55 balls in the 3rd match was mesmeric to watch and is up there with the greatest T20 innings of all time. India now gear up for the ODI series against England and West Indies after which they will play the T20Is the Windies.

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