Hyderabad: Eoin Morgan-led England cricket team will start as favourites when they will face Babar Azam's Pakistan in the opening T20I of the three-match T20 International series on Friday at the Old Trafford, Manchester.
Much like England's last two-Test series, the limited-overs series would also be played behind closed doors and in a bio-secure environment.
The entire T20I series would be played in Manchester. It must be noted that Pakistan have not lost a single T20I match at this venue.
In a major set back for the Three Lions, their explosive opener Jason Roy has been ruled out from the series due to a left side strain. He was injured during practice at Old Trafford earlier this week.
However, Roy will not leave the bio-secure bubble as he is slated to play the limited-overs series against their traditional rival Australia next month.
If we talk about England and Pakistan's head to head perfomance in the shortest format of the game, then both sides have faced each-other 15 times with the Three Lions emerging victorious on 10 occasion and one game was tied.
Talking about Pakistan's team combination they have some big and experienced T20 specialist in their squad including the likes of Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik.
On the other hand, England will rely upon their experienced skipper Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow and David Willey.
Ahead of the tournament opener, England skipper Eoin Morgan has asked his unit to make the most of their chances.
"This is another opportunity for guys who potentially sit outside that 15 to present their best case, moving forward, for winter tours and the World Cup next year. Opportunities like this don't come around very often when we have our squad at full strength," Morgan had said.
Here are the squads of both the teams:
England squad for T20Is: Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Tom Banton, Sam Billings, Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Lewis Gregory, Chris Jordan, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, David Willey.
Pakistan squad for T20Is: Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz.
