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India will face England in a five-match T20I series that starts on January 22 in Kolkata. Here’s a look at India’s strongest playing XI for the home series.
India’s strongest playing XI for T20I series against England. (Picture Credit: X/@BCCI, PTI)
India will face England in a five-match T20I series. The series opener is scheduled to take place at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on January 22, and the next four matches will be played in Chennai, Rajkot, Pune, and Mumbai. The BCCI announced India’s 15-member squad for the home series against Jos Buttler-led side on Saturday (January 11). Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead India and will have Axar Patel as his deputy. Star fast bowler Mohammed Shami, who last played for Men in Blue in the ODI World Cup 2023 final, was included in the squad along with Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, and Harshit Rana. All these five players missed India’s last T20I series against South Africa in November 2024.
Sanju Samson is all set to be India’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batter, and the 30-year-old will open the innings in five T20Is as well, along with Abhishek Sharma. The Punjab-based cricketer has managed to retain his place in the Indian T20I team. Tilak Varma, after scoring two centuries in his last two T20Is against South Africa, is expected to continue at No. 3 and will be followed by Suryakumar, Hardik Pandya, and Rinku Singh.
Nitish impressed with his all-round show in the three T20Is against Bangladesh last year, but it will be difficult for him to find a place in the playing XI during the England series. Axar Patel is all set to be India’s first-choice spin bowling all-rounder, and it will be interesting to see if Washington Sundar pips Ravi Bishnoi for a place in the XI.
Varun Chakravarthy will lead India’s spin attack. The cricketer from Tamil Nadu was in red-hot form during the away series against South Africa, where he also broke the record of taking the most wickets for India in a bilateral T20I series.
Arshdeep Singh has 95 wickets to his name in 60 T20Is played so far, and he will lead the fast bowling attack for the hosts. Mohammed Shami will partner him with the new ball, and if during the series, the team management decides to rest the 34-year-old seamer as part of workload management, then Harshit Rana could get a game.
India’s strongest playing XI for the T20I series against England: Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy
