After the debacle in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series loss in Australia, India has shifted its focus on the white-ball format including five T20Is and three ODIs against England. The iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata will host the T20I series opener on Wednesday.
Mohammed Shami will be back in the fray to bolster the Suryakumar Yadav-led side ahead of the all-important Champions Trophy, scheduled to start next month. Shami last played for India in the ODI World Cup final against Australia in November 2023.
He underwent surgery for a heel injury that ruled him out of the action till November last year when he turned up for his state side Bengal in the Ranji Trophy.
Mark Wood is back in the team for the first time since August. Along with Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton, he will lead England's pace-attack for the visitors who announced their playing XI for the series opener on Tuesday.
India and England have played each other 24 times in T20Is, with India slightly ahead with 13 victories to the 11 England has won. However, since 2021, India have won five out of the last seven T20Is played between the two sides. Their last T20I against each other was in the semi-finals of the 2024 ICC Men's T20 Cricket World Cup where India emerged victorious.
The remaining games will be held in Chennai, Rajkot, Pune, and Mumbai. Mumbai will host the final T20I on 2 February. After the T20I series, the teams will play a three-match ODI series starting February 6 and provide fans an early glimpse into India's readiness for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Squads:
India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel.
England: Jos Buttler (c), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Phil Salt, Mark Wood.
India vs England 1st T20I all you need to know:
Date: 22 January, Wednesday
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Time: 7 pm IST
Live streaming on: Disney Hotstar
Telecast on: Star Sports 1 (HD & SD), Star Sports 1 Hindi (HD & SD), Star Sports 1 Tamil (HD & SD), Star Sports 1 Telugu (HD & SD), Star Sports 1 Kannada (SD).
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