Fast bowler Mohammed Shami finally made his return to the India squad, playing in five T20Is against England starting January 22 in Kolkata. He returned to action after playing his last match for India in the ODI World Cup final in November 2023, after which he underwent ankle surgery and also suffered knee-related injuries.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led T20I squad was selected by the selectors on Saturday but they are yet to announce India’s ODI squad for the three-match series against England in February and the provisional 15th squad for the Champions Trophy. The deadline is January. 12.
Jasprit Bumrah was not included in the 15-man squad for the T20I against England, with uncertainty still prevailing over the nature of the injury that left him unable to bowl in the second innings of Australia’s fifth Test in Sydney.
Rishabh Pant, who was India’s preferred wicket-keeper in the 2024 T20 World Cup and two of the three T20Is in Sri Lanka in July last year, was not included in the squad. He is likely to get a break after playing the Test series in Australia along with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill. Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel are the two wicketkeepers in the T20I against England. Batting all-rounder Ryan Parag was sidelined due to a shoulder injury.
From the 15-team squad that won the T20I series in South Africa 3-1 last November, the selectors left out Ramandeep Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Avesh Khan, Yash Dayal and Vijaykumar Vyshak. They were replaced by Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Dhruv Jurel and Washington Sundar. All of them, as well as Shami, missed the series as they were part of India’s Test tour of Australia.
Since returning to domestic cricket in November 2024, Shami has played all nine T20 matches for Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, taking 11 wickets at an economy rate of 7.85. He played just three of Bengal’s seven 50-over games in the next Vijay Hazare Trophy, taking five wickets at an average of 25.80. During this period, there was constant speculation as to whether Shami would be fit to join the Indian Test squad in Australia, but recurring knee swelling prevented that from happening.
Axar Patel has been appointed vice-captain of the T20I squad, a BCCI press release said. The previous two T20I squad announcements did not name a vice-captain for the home series against Bangladesh and South Africa. Gill was a former deputy when India played a T20I series in Sri Lanka in July.
India will host England in five T20Is in Kolkata, Chennai, Rajkot, Pune and Mumbai from January 22 to February 2, followed by Nagpur (February 6), Cuttack (February 9) and Ahmedabad. (February 12) to host three ODIs. This is the only ODI India will play before the start of the Champions Trophy on February 19. They have played just three ODIs in 2024 in Sri Lanka last August.
India T20I squad for England series
Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Sanju Samson (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Dhruv Jurel (captain), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel (deputy captains), Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar
