England's view of India's T20
Tim Wigmore reports in today’s Telegraph that England settled on batting second in their Semi Final against India if they won the toss even though the setting team was strongly favored at the Adelaide Oval, because “Buttler, and vice-captain Moeen Ali, were adamant that bowling first would maximise England's chances, reasoning that India were liable to bat too cautiously in knockout matches.”
England’s assesment of India’s tendencies are borne out by the data, and not just in knockout matches. India field the same top four (with the exception of one position) in their Test and T20I line up.
The table below gives the partnership record of the most prolific T20 bats in the setting innings (batting 1st) of T20. Basically, it shows what happens when the player is at the wicket. OTHSR gives the scoring rate at the other end. BPI is the balls per innings. The MISBAH figure is given as a percentage relative to the expected runs. SR gives the player’s scoring rate.
Moeen and Buttler have a point. They probably studied these figures (and more).
I believe you mean bowling first?
Would be helpful to have a column with SR-OTHSR