Betting Preview of Eng v Pak - 1st T20I at Dubai

The first T20I between England and Pakistan will be played tomorrow at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai. This is the first of the two games that will be played in the series. >

Pakistan will be on their tour since they were blanked – or swamped or routed – by the Aussies in nine consecutive games over the three formats of the game. They have had a lot of controversies going against them, including a finger-pointing incident between Mohammad Yousuf and Shoaib Malik. >

Malik is the captain of the side for the two games, whereas Yousuf is not a part of the T20I side.

The other batsman to look out for would be Imran Nazir, whose form hasn’t been where one would have expected from him ever since he was reinstated into the side after his foray into the ICL. One must remember that he had had an aggressive form going for him during the ICL and even in the ICC World T20 that was played in 2007 in South Africa.

The one player that the English team will be worried about will be the highly talented Umar Akmal, who has the ability to tear the opposition apart with his batting. However, he needs to ensure that the aggression needs to be curbed in a way that it is not self-destructive.

On the other hand, the English side will rely on their young guns to turn the game in their favour. They will obviously know that they are up against a side which has won the ICC World T20 and have done well in this format too. They will also know the kind of form that has been exhibited by the Pakistanis in the recent time and the fact that they are a volatile side which can self-destruct.

With the likes of Jonathon Trott and Kevin Pietersen looking to get some good scores, while Eoin Morgan would be the man to look out for.

To me, despite what the punters say, the English side will go into the side as marginal favourites; (2.2 at Boylesports as compared to the offer of 1.84 by Sporting Bet)