Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli

Calcutta/Birmingham: Even as Team India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is gearing up for the World Cup, urging his pacers to improve their performance in the death overs, he has a task at hand to end the England tour on a positive note.

The odd loss in the final one-day International on Friday notwithstanding, India are expected to have the edge as the visitors seek to bring the curtains down on the tour with a win in the one-off T20I here on Sunday.

Being humiliated in the Tests, India, however, bounced back in the shorter format and won the five match one-day series 3-1, despite losing the inconsequential final game by 41 runs at Leeds.

England all-rounder Tim Bresnan has been ruled out of Sunday’s match with a strained shoulder, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Friday.

“Bresnan will not be replaced in the squad for the match, provided there are no concerns over the fitness of bowlers…” the ECB said in a statement.

The injury is not thought to be serious and the 29-year-old Bresnan could return to action for his county Yorkshire next week. Bresnan did not play in the 50-over series against India.

The inclusion of Suresh Raina for the ODI squad did give the much-needed impetus to the Indian team.

Young batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan, too, fared better in the ODIs, though Virat Kohli’s woeful run of form remains a major cause for concern.

Kohli’s run of poor scores continued in the shorter format, and he would want to change things in the one-off T20I.

Though they flopped in the final ODI, both Rahane and Dhawan have had good outings in the penultimate game, with the former notching up a smashing century.

Raina has been good on and off, while Ambati Rayudu (53) and Jadeja (87) showed their ability with the willow on the Headingley wicket.

As far as bowling is concerned, India enjoyed greater success in the ODIs, with Mohammad Shami managing to impress even captain Dhoni with his effort in the death overs on Friday.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar relishes bowling on seaming conditions and would be keen to extract something out of the Edgbaston track. Dhoni has another option in Umesh Yadav, though it remains to be seen whether the pacer is picked for the match after a lacklustre outing in Leeds.

Left-arm spinner Jadeja can be a handy bowler in the T20 format and he would definitely be a valuable option for the skipper.

And then there is the specialist spinner, offie Ravichandran Ashwin, who surely knows a thing or two about bowling in the slam-bang format. From England’s point of view, Joe Root, who had just scored his ODI ton, will look to continue in similar fashion having got a fair idea of how to handle the Indian attack.

The hosts have named uncapped Surrey batsman Jason Roy in their 14-man squad and it will be interesting to see if he is included or not.

With Stuart Broad, England’s regular T20 captain, unavailable due to a knee injury, the team will be led by Eoin Morgan.

TEAMS

India (likely): Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav/Dhawal Kulkarni.

England (likely): Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Ravi Bopara, Chris Woakes, James Tredwell, Steven Finn/Chris Jordan, Harry Gurney.

Match starts: 7.30 pm (IST)