India is hosting England for a five-match T20I series, followed by a three-match ODI series in the runup to the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy
Match starts 7 p.m., live on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD TV channels in India
The visiting England men’s cricket team management has announced its playing XI for the first T20 International against India a day ahead of the tie under lights at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday.
England coach and former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum is expected to carry his trademark aggressive style of play into white-ball cricket as well which he had adopted while transforming the nation’s red ball cricket since taking charge of the Test squad in 2022.
Matthew Mott, who had then continued to coach the team in the shorter formats, stepped down last year after England’s failure to defend its T20 and 50-overs World Cup titles within seven months through 2023-24. Since then, McCullum has been given added responsibility of resurrecting the team’s fortunes in limited-overs cricket.
India is hosting England for a five-match T20I series, followed by a three-match ODI series, in the runup to the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy to be played in Pakistan and Dubai, the upcoming edition of the trophy returning after an eight-year hiatus.
India and England are placed in separate groups in the ICC tournament which will feature 15 matches. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand are in Group A while Afghanistan, Australia, England, South Africa make up Group B.
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England’s playing XI
Ben Duckett, Phil Salt (wk), Jos Butler (c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Indian team (from)
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (v-c), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk).
India would look to live up to their current No. 1 ranking in T20Is and World champion tag as well as redeem some pride following back-to-back debacles in red ball cricket against New Zealand at home and Australia in away series.
Under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav, who stepped into Rohit Sharma’s shoes in 2024 after the latter, along with other greats Virat Kohli and Ravinder Jadeja, announced his retirement from the shortest format of the game following India’s glory in the T20 World Cup, India have maintained their dominance in the format with resounding series victories. They thumped Zimbabwe 4-1 in Zimbabwe, whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0 in Sri Lanka, blanked Bangladesh 3-0 at home, and dominated South Africa 3-1 in South Africa.
Much is expected of India’s ace pacer Mohammed Shami, who returns to international cricket after a 14-month lay-off due to injury, as his new ball partner Jasprit Bumrah, who has been in devastating form lately, is not a sure starter for the Champions Trophy.
Chief coach Gautam Gambhir will also be under scrutiny after facing flak for the Test team’s poor performances.
For England, Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, skipper Jos Buttler and Harry Brook are solid batters. The bowling department comprising Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Adil Rashid also looks formidable. Promising all-rounder Jacob Bethell and the experienced Liam Livingstone provide balance to the team.
