Jos Buttler’s England side have named their Playing 11 for the first T20I match against India at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Former T20 World Cup champions England have named their playing 11 for the first T20 of the five-match series against India at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday. Jos Buttler-led side will have the skipper batting at No. 3 position and Ben Duckett opening the innings with wicketkeeper Phil Salt.
The bowling attack will be spearheaded by new Rajasthan Royals additions Jofra Archer with Mark Wood. Archer was bought for Rs 12.5 crore by the Royals in the IPL 2025 mega auction last year. In 29 T20 matches so far, Archer has claimed 35 wickets at an excellent average of 22.74.
Earlier in Tuesday, the England Cricket Board (ECB) announced Harry Brook as their vice-captain for the T20I series against India. Liam Livingstone, Buttler and Brook will be batting in the middle order.
New Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) recruit Jacob Bethell, who played his last T20I match in November last year, has also been added to the Three Lions Playing 11. Bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton will also take part in the 20-over match at Eden Gardens.
Meanwhile, England skipper Jos Buttler is confident that the T20I series against India will not hamper their preparation for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan and Dubai next month.
“It’s going to be a great series against a really top side in their own conditions. There’s loads to look forward to. I’m not worried about schedules at the moment. I’m just looking forward to playing some games,” Buttler said on the eve of the first T20I at the Eden Gardens.
“I think it’s going to be a really exciting T20 series. Obviously, there’s some ODIs to follow, so yeah, I’m just looking forward to the games,” he added.
Arrival at Eden Gardens 👋
Follow the lads as they take in the ground for the first time 🤩 pic.twitter.com/jkYB3hYUmp
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 20, 2025
McCullum, the red-ball coach, had succeeded Matthew Mott as England’s limited over formats coach, and Buttler wanted to build the bond with the Kiwi. “Obviously, it’s not a new setup because Baz (McCullum) has been around for a while,” Buttler said.
The five-match T20I series begins on January 22 at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. The second match will take place on January 25 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The third match is scheduled for January 28 at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. The fourth and fifth matches will be played on January 31 and February 2 at Maharashtra Cricket Stadium in Pune and Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, respectively.
England Playing XI: Ben Duckett, Phil Salt (WK), Jos Buttler (C), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
