After a dominating Test series win, team India shift their focus to T20I against England. With eyes on the T20 World Cup in India later this year, both teams have selected a strong squad for the five-match series which begins on March 12.
While England have Dawid Malan, the number one ranked T20I batsman up their ranks, India also boast of an explosive player in KL Rahul who is currently occupying the third spot in the T20I batsmen rankings.
England would be hoping to win the series to avenge their defeat in the Test series while India would be hoping to carry on the same momentum and continue their winning run.
Venue: All matches to be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad- the biggest cricket stadium in the world.
Eoin Morgan (Captain), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Sam Billings, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.
KL Rahul, who opened the batting for India in the last T20I series, is getting tough fight from Shikhar Dhawan for the opening slot.
Fresh faces in the squad- Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia earning their maiden T20I call-up, after impressing in the last year’s IPL.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is expected to lead India’s spin-bowling attack.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who missed out on the Australia tour with a late injury, is also back in the side.
Axar Patel, one of the standout performers for India in the just-concluded Test series, has also been named in the squad as a like-for-like replacement for injured Ravindra Jadeja.
Washington Sundar, Hardik Pandya and Rahul Tewatia are the three all-rounders in the side.
In the fast-bowling department, Bhuvneshwar Kumar is making a comeback after a long injury layoff, while T Natarajan has kept his place in the side after a successful tour Down Under, where he had become the first-ever Indian to make debuts in all three formats on the same tour.
Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur are the remaining fast bowlers in the squad.
Eoin Morgan will take over the leadership duties from Test skipper Joe Root who is not part of their T20I side.
Moeen Ali, who went back home after playing just one Test, is back with the squad.
England will be riding on players like Sam Billings, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan and Adil Rashid, who didn’t feature in the Test series to make a difference in the series.
Apart from Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow none of the players named in the T20I squad were part of England’s playing XI for the fourth Test, which they lost by an innings and 25 runs.
Varun Chakravarthy has failed fitness again ahead of the India vs England T20 series.
It is likely that the selectors will draft in Rahul Chahar as replacement, while the status of Rahul Tewatia - who had also failed fitness tests - is unclear.
’Yorker King’ T Natarajan’s inclusion in the squad has also come under scanner as the speedster is believed to have gone down with an injury, as per sources.
To be part of India’s limited-overs squads, clearing the fitness tests is a key selection criteria imposed by the BCCI at the behest of the team management and the selectors. In the new fitness standards, players have the choice to either clear the yo-yo test, whose level has been increased to 17:1, or run two kilometres in 8.15 minutes (for bowlers) and 8.30 minutes (for the rest).
England win the toss and elected to field first. Rohit Sharma has been rested while Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been included in the side for India. England have added Mark Wood into their XI.
A thumping win for the visitors as they go 1-0 up in the five-match series.
IND 124/7 (20 ov) ENG 130/2 (15.3 ov)
In reply to a target of 125 runs, England cruised past India during the first T20I of their five-match series. Jason Roy (49), Jos Buttler (28), Dawid Malan (24*) and Jonny Bairstow (26*) chase down the target of 125 and steer England home with 27 balls to spare! A comprehensive victory by Eoin Morgan’s side in which both the bowling and batting department excelled.
England initially won the toss and elected to bowl. India could only muster 124 for seven in 20 overs, losing wickets at regular intervals. Shreyas Iyer registered a half-century, scoring 67 off 48 balls. For England, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes took a wicket each. Pacer Jofra Archer registered three wickets.
