Most sports fans across the globe, let alone English fans, will probably watch England taking on Colombia in the Round of 16 tie of Fifa World Cup 2018 in Moscow on Tuesday, July 3.
A few thousand kilometres away, in Manchester, a blockbuster cricket contest will be held as hosts England take on the mighty Indians in the first match of a three-match T20I series, which marks the start of a full tour between the two in-form sides in cricket.
When does the match start and how to watch it live
The first T20I between England and India will be played from 5:30 pm BST, 10 pm IST.
Sony Ten 3 and Sony Ten 3 HD will provide live television coverage of the match in India. The live stream will be available on Sony Liv.
England vs India: 1st T20I preview
Virat Kohli-led India are heading into the series on the back of crushing Ireland 2-0 in a short series in Dublin last month. The Men in Blue rotated their squad heavily but were still able to thrash the hosts by comfortable margins in both their wins.
Nonetheless, they are expected to face a stiff test against England, who are high on confidence after whitewashing world champions Australia in a five-match ODI series and a one-off T20I to kickoff the English summer in style.
English top-order a huge threat to India
England have one of the most lethal top-orders in T20I cricket with Jason Roy, Alex Hales and Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 star Jos Buttler occupying the top three spots in their line-up.
Buttler, who relished the opportunity of opening the innings for Rajasthan Royals, has carried his form into international cricket. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored two half-centuries and a century in the ODIs against Australia and a 30-ball 60 in the one-off T20I as recently as June 27.
At the very venue, Buttler hit a valiant and unbeaten 110 to help England complete the ODI series whitewash.
Containing the English batsmen will be India's primary focus and the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who will miss the T20I series due to a fractured finger, comes as a blow for the visitors.
Nonetheless, Umesh Yadav, who impressed in IPL 2018 with raw pace, will open the bowling alongside the impressive Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Can the Indian spin twins succeed in England?
The battle between English batsmen and India's wrist-spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal will prove to be decisive. The crafty spinners have been troubling oppositions at will as they have been able to take wickets consistently in the middle overs even in unhelpful conditions.
"We have actually been able to create flat wickets into wicket-taking wickets with the variety we have in the attack," skipper Kohli had said, referring to his wrist-spinners before the team departed for the UK tour.
1st T20I team news
England would have wanted Ben Stokes in the playing XI but the dangerous all-rounder isn't fully fit for the Manchester clash.
England Probable XI: Eoin Morgan (c), Jason Roy, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Moeen Ali, Liam Plunkett, David Willey, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid.
On the other hand, Yadav will come into the side, replacing Bumrah even though India have two other fast-bowling options in Deepak Chahar and Siddharth Kaul.
The tussle for middle-order spots continue and the likes of Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey may miss out to accommodate KL Rahul, who smashed a quickfire 70 in Dublin last week after opening the innings.
India probable XI: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav.
England vs India: T20Is Global TV guide and live stream
- Subcontinent: Sony Ten 3
- UK: Sky Sports Main Event; Live streaming: Sky Go
- US: Willow TV
- Australia: Fox Sports
- South Africa: SuperSport
