India face England in the first T20I of the five-matches series on Friday.© Instagram
England star batsman Jos Buttler feels that the Virat Kohli-led side are favourites for the ICC T20 World Cup scheduled to be played later this year in India. Buttler feels as a host nation, Team India will have an advantage in the showpiece event. “Going into World Cups, you probably look at hosts nations as strong as India who are gonna be favourites for that tournament. So it’s a great exposure for us to play against one of the best teams in the tournament in these conditions,” said Buttler in a virtual press conference shared by ECB.
“There are many excellent teams, in the last few World Cups hosts nations have performed very well. India is of course strong in every format and T20 is no different and especially playing at home I see India as the favourites,” he added.
India and England will face each other in the first T20I on Friday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and Buttler feels it’s a perfect opportunity for the visitors to get into the groove ahead of the T20 World Cup.
“It’s vital for us to play and hopefully you wanna win that series and take that confidence and gel together as a group and have that clarity ahead of the World Cup. So it’s a fantastic opportunity for us as a side to be playing against India in World Cup conditions,” said Buttler.
All five T20Is will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium and Buttler sees this as a major advantage for the English side to learn the conditions before the T20 World Cup.
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“This is a great benefit for us. Being here and to play in Ahmedabad in the brand new stadium which may play a big part in the World Cup and no one has played here before. So it’s a big advantage for us to learn about conditions,” said Buttler.
“We don’t know how the wickets are gonna play in this stadium but to play five matches on the same ground, the pitch might slow up and it may spin so that can be good exposure for us before the World Cup,” he added.
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