The three T20I matches series between England and Pakistan is scheduled to take place in UAE from 26 January. First Twenty20 game of series will be played on Thursday in Dubai and the match will start at 8:00 PM local time, 16:00 GMT, 21:00 PKT and 21:30 IST.
Preview
ICC T20I world ranking world number 2 team Pakistan will be playing this three t20 match series to save their 2nd rank position as if Pak losses the series they will drop in the rankings. On the other hand English team will be looking to improve their position in the rankings as currently England are at the 8th place.
Pakistan will be playing with their regular captain Shahid Afridi who needs to fire and get momentum ahead of world t20 next year. Team will be depending lot more on top order batsmen like Shehzad, Hafeez, Akmal and Shoaib Malik. Pak have lost ODI series already against England and will be desperate to get back on the winning track.
Men in Green won their last 2 Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka. Winning series against Sri Lanka was really amazing and morale booster and Sri Lanka is the world champion side in T20 format. On the other hand English team will be full with confidence after their historic One-Day series win.
England team will be depending on their captain Eoin Morgan who bats very well in the middle order. Alex Hales, Moeen Ali, Reece Topley, Joe Root, Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler will the key players for England in the series. Let’s have a look at the complete squads for both teams.
Squads
Pakistan:
Shahid Afridi (captain), Sarfraz Ahmad, Shoaib Malik, Ahmad Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Anwar Ali, Sohaib Maqsood, Mohammad Rizwan, Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan, Amir Yamin, Rift Ullah Mohmand, Mohammad Irfan, Imad Wasim and Sohail Tanveer.
England:
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali , Sam Billings, Chris Jordan, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Stephen Parry, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Jason Roy, James Vince, Reece Topley, Chris Woakes and Liam Plunkett.
Live Telecast
Pakistan viewers will be able to watch the live telecast of first twenty20 match between England and Pakistan on PTV Sports and TEN Cricket. TEN Sports is the official broadcaster for Pakistan’s home series. Match will begin at 9:00 PM as per Pakistan timings.
United Kingdom viewers can tune to Sky Sports to watch the live coverage of match.
TEN Cricket will broadcast this match in India from 9:30 PM IST.
USA based viewers can enjoy 1st T20 live on Willow TV.
Live Score
The live score of Pakistan vs England 1st T20 match can be taken from espncricinfo or cricbuzz. Both portals will also provide latest updates regarding the match.