Mohammed Shami is set to make his international comeback while Sanju Samson will return to opening slot for the first T20 match against England at Kolkata on Wednesday.
Team India will be begin a five-match T20I series against England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday. India have been undefeated in bilateral T20I series since losing 2-0 to Australia back in 2019 and will look to continue their winning run against Jos Buttler’s England side.
The former T20 World Cup champions have already named their playing 11 for the first T20 match with Buttler coming down at No. 3 and Harry Brook named as the vice-captain of the side. India, on the other hand, are expected to stick with the opening partnership of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma which performed impressively in their series win over South Africa last year.
Mumbai Indians youngster Tilak Varma is expected to retain his No. 3 position after scoring back-to-back hundreds in his last two T20I matches against South Africa with skipper Suryakumar Yadav coming in at No. 4.
Sanju Samson had also scored back-to-back centuries in T20I cricket last year against Bangladesh and South Africa. The bowling department will finally see the return of Mohammed Shami into international cricket after more than a year due to injury. Shami was last seen in action in the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia.
The Bengal pacer will partner Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya as the main seamers with Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel expected to be the lead spinners. However, it will be interesting to see if India will opt for another specialist spinner in Ravi Bishnoi or opt for an all-rounder between Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Looking at the conditions and chances of dew in Kolkata, Reddy should have the edge with his medium-pace bowling and he was also one of the in-form batters in India’s disappointing Test tour of Australia.
England have opted for Adil Rashid as the specialist spinner with all-rounder Jacob Bethell and Liam Livingstone also expected to chip in.
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— BCCI (@BCCI) January 21, 2025
India vs England 2025 1st T20 Predicted Playing 11
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy/Washington Sundar/Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy
England: Phil Salt (wk), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
