India begin the series looking to bounce back after a 2-0 T20I defeat to Ireland
England aim to make home advantage count in the opening match at Chester-le-Street
Cloudy conditions with a slight chance of showers are forecast for the series opener
India begin their five-match T20I series against England at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday, arriving off the back of a stinging 2-0 defeat to Ireland, their first bilateral T20I series loss to the Associate side in eight attempts. Shreyas Iyer's tenure as captain has started under scrutiny.
England, meanwhile, are still absorbing a Test series defeat to New Zealand and Ben Stokes' sudden retirement. Harry Brook leads, with a series win likely to strengthen his case for the vacant Test captaincy.
Jofra Archer is unlikely to feature so soon after a Test, with Sonny Baker or Luke Wood favoured instead.
India have Varun Chakravarthy back, forcing a tough call among Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Prince Yadav. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi continues to wait for his T20I debut.
Both sides arrive with momentum behind them despite recent dips, India have won the Champions Trophy and T20 World Cup, while England look more settled than the world champions right now.
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Chester-le-Street is expected to witness mostly cloudy skies with the possibility of brief showers, although prolonged rain is not forecast. Temperatures are likely to hover around 21°C, and while passing showers could interrupt play, conditions should allow for a near-complete contest.
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England have already announced their playing XI on the eve of the first T20I as usual.
England Playing XI: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w), Harry Brook(c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood
India Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
India Vs England,1st T20I: Squads
England: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w), Harry Brook(c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood, Jordan Cox, James Coles, Rehan Ahmed, Sonny Baker
India: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Washington Sundar, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi
