England kick off a three-match T20I series against Pakistan at Old Trafford on Friday - Richard Mann previews the action.
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2pts Babar Azam top Pakistan runscorer at 9/4
The English cricket summer takes a marked shift in gear on Friday as Test cricket is put back in its box to make way for a three-match T20I series against Pakistan.
Much of the glitz and glamour usually associated with the shortest form of the game won't be in evidence at Old Trafford as empty stands will once again greet the players in these most unprecedented of times.
Nevertheless, there is still plenty at stake for both sides with England's squad, in particular, housing a number of names who might not have ordinarily been been given the opportunity in this series had the likes of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Jason Roy been available.
Roy's late defection due to a side strain certainly paves the way for someone to make their mark at the top of the order and I can't resist backing Dawid Malan to seize his chance in England colours having enjoyed a good time of it for Yorkshire in recent weeks.
Malan is a classy operator in all three forms of the game who is by no means out of next year's Ashes picture and having spent the winter honing his T20 skills with great success in the Pakistan Super League, he struck a double hundred in his latest County Championship outing for new club Yorkshire only a matter of days ago.
Prior to Christmas, Malan compiled a wonderful unbeaten century against New Zealand to help push his average for England in this form of the game to a touch over 50. Those are crazy numbers and even when the likes of Joe Root, Roy and Buttler return to the limited-overs set-up, Malan has given the selectors plenty to ponder.
Nevertheless, he will be eager to press his case further and whether it be at the top of the order or number three, Malan looks set to make a big impression throughout the upcoming series. He rates fair value at 4/1 to be England's top runscorer in the series opener while backing him to make a half-century in the match at 7/2 makes plenty of appeal, too.
No Jofra Archer, Mark Wood or Chris Woakes gives any England bowler markets a different look, though Adil Rashid will remain a key attacking weapon for captain Eoin Morgan while Tom Curran's excellent death bowling always brings him into calculations.
I'll leave this one for now, though there is no doubting that so many major absentees from the England line-up certainly gives Pakistan a sniff.
They should be more than competitive in the coming days and any batting unit led by Babar Azam has the ability to post or chase challenging totals.
Babar impressed greatly with his form in the recent Test series but it shouldn't be forgotten that his white-ball credentials remain stronger with an average of 50.72 from 38 matches in T20I's marking him down as a limited-overs batsman of the very highest order.
Pakistan have quickly realised that allowing Babar to open the innings in the shortest form of the game affords him the greatest chance to be successful and while that is the case, I won't be ignoring the 9/4 on offer for Babar to kick off the series by top scoring for the visitors.
Posted at 1725 BST on 27/08/20
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