India vs England 2017: 5 Players who need to step up and deliver in the decider

After a week of topsy-turvy action, we are now down to the third and final T20I between India and England to decided the outcome of who takes the owners in the three-game series. After England pulled off a convincing win in the opening game in Kanpur, India, thanks to Jasprit Bumrah’s late exploits, bounced back to make it 1-1 in the series.

That now means that both sides will battle it out for the title at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday and we look at 5 Indian players who need to bring their A game out and deliver in this crunch game:

5.Hardik Pandya

The seam bowling all-rounder that India have been searching for a long time-Hardik Pandya-has had very little to do in the T20I series so far, particularly with the ball. The Baroda all-rounder has bowled a mere two overs in the ongoing series, both of which came in the opening game at Kanpur.

With the bat too, Pandya has hardly made any impact, but that is not entirely his fault, considering he has when the bulk of the overs were already over. On Wednesday, though, Pandya will hope that he gets a chance to contribute both with bat and ball and tht helps India win the game and the series.

4.MS Dhoni

Playing his first T20I series after giving up captincy, it was expected that Dhoni would come higher up the order and play with a lot more freedom than previously. However, thus far, in the series, the 35-year-old former captain has not got the chance to do that.

Dhoni has managed to make a mere 41 runs in the two games so far and in both of them has come in to at the Numbet 6 position, thereby not getting sufficient overs to express himself in the middle.

While few in the game can continue to finish a game as well as Dhoni, the fact that he does not have as much responsibility now as compared to earlier should aloow him to come higher up and play a bigger innings.

In what could be his last T20I at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, Dhoni would look to come higher up in the order and play a substantial innings to help India win 2-1.

3.Yuvraj Singh

Brought back into the limited-overs side for this series, Yuvraj Singh showed that he still had in him to do well in the 50-over formats, when he smashed a career-best score of 150 in the second ODI at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack.

However, in the two T20Is so far, the 35-year-old left-hander has failed to hit the straps, making a mere 16 runs in the two matches so far and along with MS Dhoni needs to get his act going in the middle-order and get India to a competitive total, if they are batting first.

Like Dhoni, this could well be the last chance for this talisman as well to play at this venue, where he made his highest Test score against Pakistan in 2007 and he will hope that he can make a sizeable contribution to help India make it 2-1 in the series.

2.Suresh Raina

Picked only for the T20I series, Suresh Raina has done little of note in the two T20Is played so far, having made just 41 runs in the two games. The disappointing aspect is that Raina has walked out to bat at the Number 3 position in both those games, with the openers failing to get the team off to a good start.

However, despite many overs remaining, Raina has failed to make any big scores, which will be of concern for the team management since his impact both in the format and while batting in that position is well-known to everyone.

Raina was one of the lynchpins for the Chennai Super Kings, while batting at the Number 3 and on Wednesday, he will need to get a big one if India are to clinch the series 2-1.

1.Virat Kohli

The boss. The captain and the leader of this Indian batting unit. It goes without saying that for the decider against England on Wednesday, Kohli will be extremely motivated to do well.

The right-hander, who has opened in both the matches so far, has failed to make the most of the 20 overs that were at his disposal and with him most likely to open once again in the third game, he will need to setp up his game and make it count in what he calls his second home.