The India vs. England T20I series will begin in two days. But the focus isn’t on T20s. The five matches will serve as preparations for the ICC Champions Trophy. Knowing the importance of 50-over preparations, England has picked their squad accordingly. Joe Root’s inclusion in the ODI series is the only difference between the two squads and exactly why Will Jacks and Sam Curran haven’t been picked.
Focus on ICC Champions Trophy
But, of course, the focus would be guiding England to a series win. Jos Buttler, the Three Lions white-ball captain, will opt for a team that would also feature in ODI series and then the ICC Champions Trophy. Seeing the make-up of the squad and no Ben Stokes, it’s fair to say they are pretty inexperienced.
Phil Salt, Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, and Jacob Bethell have a combined ODI experience of 71 matches. That is four of the top five batters. Buttler alone has 181 caps, while Liam Livingstone, who’s considered an experienced player, has just 33 matches under his belt.
Predicted England Playing XI for 1st India T20I
The T20Is, therefore, are the perfect opportunity to get some balls on bat before the main series, the India vs. England ODIs, starts. Keeping this in mind, England’s XI for the 1st India T20I would look something like this:
Jos Buttler (c & wk)
Phil Salt
Ben Duckett
Jacob Bethell
Harry Brook
Liam Livingstone
Jamie Overton
Jofra Archer
Adil Rashid
Mark Wood
Saqib Mahmood
On the bench: Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jamie Smith (wk)
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England to focus on batting & bowling depth
As usual, England would go in with a couple of all-rounders (Livingstone and Jamie Overton), because they have always had bowling and batting depth. There’ll be enough youth and experience in the batting with Buttler, Salt, Livingstone, Brook, Bethell, and Duckett. Also provide a good mix of right and left combinations.
Express pace will be provided by Mark Wood and Jofra Archer with inexperienced Saqib Mahmood, who’s finally gotten his visa. The side-on action pacer, who offers good control, will be used in the powerplay primarily but can be useful in the middle overs as well. Adil Rashid will be the main spinner, but Livingstone and Bethell can roll their arms over.
