Toss India opt to bowl vs England
India will chase in the first T20I against England after Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to give his bowlers first go on a “sticky” Kolkata pitch, with dew expected to be a major factor in the second innings.
Jos Buttler – who would have also chosen to bowl first – announced England’s pace-laden team on Tuesday. Suryakumar’s XI, however, features three spinners in the form of new vice-captain Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi. Abhishek Sharma also offers a slow-bowling option with his left-arm orthodox.
Mohammed Shami will have to wait for his return to action after recovering from ankle surgery and a knee issue that has kept him out of international action since 2023’s ODI World Cup final defeat to Australia. Arshdeep Singh, and allrounders Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy are the designated pace options.
The first of five T20Is has a distinctly transitional feel, particularly with the hosts as Brendon McCullum oversees his first white ball match as England all-encompassing head coach.
India, meanwhile, are further along in theirs, triumphing over Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa since their T20 World Cup success last year which brought a handful of high-profile retirements. With the fallout from a disappointing Test tour of Australia still ongoing, Gautam Gambhir will hope his first visit to Eden Gardens as national head coach brings familiar comforts.
India have not lost a bilateral T20I series at home in the last six years, a record that sits alongside a broader dominance against England in this format, having won the last four series, home and away. Their most recent meeting came in last year’s World Cup semi-final, with India rollicking to a comfortable 68-run victory on their way to the title.
This is England’s first T20I at Kolkata since 2016’s heart-breaking World T20 final, when Carlos Brathwaite struck four consecutive sixes in the final over off Ben Stokes to take West Indies to a dramatic win.
India: 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Surayakumar Yadav (capt), 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
England: 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jos Buttler (capt), 4 Harry Brook, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Jacob Bethell, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood
Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo
