After a washed-out game in Durham, England and India are set to battle it out for the second T20 international in Manchester. The five-match series will finally move on as players get ready to lock horns on July 4. Meanwhile, the hosts have continued with their tradition of naming their team in advance. For the second T20I, England have revealed that they will be making two changes in the Manchester T20I, with pacer Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue replacing Luke Wood and Saqib Mahmood.
Archer returns to battle with Samson
The biggest talking point of England’s team is the return of Archer, who is also named in England’s ODI squad. He replaces Luke Wood, who was ordinary in the first T20I. However, the bigger picture will be the battle between Archer and Sanju Samson. Former Rajasthan Royals (RR) teammates have been part of great head-to-head rivalries.
Back in 2025 when England toured India for five T20Is, Archer had Samson‘s number. He dismissed him thrice in five matches, with the batter averaging just 8.3 against the tearaway quick. Samson had the ‘bouncers’ problem and Archer cashed in on it. But that wasn’t the last chapter.
Sanju Samson vs Jofra Archer in T20Is
| Year | Runs | Balls | Outs | Dots | 4s | 6s | SR | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 25 | 23 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 108.70 | 8.33 |
| 2026 | 38 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 271.43 | – |
| Total | 63 | 37 | 3 | 18 | 4 | 6 | 170.27 | 21.00 |
Samson roared back. He roared back in such style that his innings against England will be remembered for a long time. During the T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final in Mumbai, Samson was challenged by Archer again. But on that occasion, Samson’s new back-and-across stance made him not only negotiate the English pacer but mauled him for 38 runs in 14 balls. The strike rate was over 270.
Now, the two greats will battle again, and the nuances are different again. Samson is feeling the heat after back-to-back failures. Everyone is screaming for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to be part of the team but the India management is adamant in giving a longer rope to their World Cup star Samson.
England Playing XI for 2nd India T20I
Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue
Bench: Rehan Ahmed, Luke Wood, Sonny Baker, James Coles, Jordan Cox, Saqib Mahmood
England vs India T20I series schedule
| Match | Date | Venue | Time (IST) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st T20I (Abandoned) | July 1 | Chester-le-Street | 10 PM |
| 2nd T20I | July 4 | Manchester | 7 PM |
| 3rd T20I | July 7 | Nottingham | 10 PM |
| 4th T20I | July 9 | Bristol | 10 PM |
| 5th T20I | July 11 | Southampton | 7 PM |
