Big picture: Homecoming for SKY

A new captain, and a homecoming at the Wankhede, was the theme in the build-up to IPL 2024. It is once again a talking point as the India-England T20I series heads for a finale in Mumbai.

However, the Suryakumar that is coming into the game is in unfamiliar territory by his lofty T20I standards. He has gone seven successive innings without a half-century, the longest such streak for him, and tallies just 26 in four outings in this series with two ducks. The high-intent approach of going hard from ball one is partly a cause, with assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate saying consistency and predictability is not a high marker in T20 cricket.

This series for England has been about hit-the-deck bowlers, with each of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Brydon Carse making use of the hard lengths to undo the India captain. Only in Pune did Suryakumar chip a tame catch off a full ball on his pad.

England will once again be looking to hit the right length to spoil Suryakumar's homecoming, while the hosts will have their sights set on an impressive 4-1 series win.

Form guide

India WLWWW (Last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
England LWLLL

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India (probable XI): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Ramandeep Singh/Harshit Rana, 9 Arshdeep Singh/Mohammed Shami, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Varun Chakravarthy

An impressive first outing in the series should see fast bowler Saqib Mahmood hold his place in the XI. England might consider resting Archer, who has played all four T20Is so far, and bringing back Gus Atkinson. Legspinning allrounder Rehan Ahmed could also get a game.

England (probable XI): 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jos Buttler (capt), 4 Harry Brook, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Jamie Smith/Jacob Bethell, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Jofra Archer/Gus Atkinson, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Adil Rashid/Rehan Ahmed

Pitch and conditions

Quotes

"I like the confidence this bowling unit walks onto the field with. The planning we do before games, everybody is contributing in those conversations. The main thing is to go out and execute and even if we are under pressure, like tonight, it was great awareness shown by the group."
Morne Morkel, India's bowling coach, is pleased with how they defended the score in Pune