IND to bat first against ENG in the 1st T20I at Chester-le-Street
Still no signs of Sooryavanshi in the playing XI
Harry Brook-led ENG had already named their playing XI
Shreyas Iyer’s India will lock horns against Harry Brook’s England in the first of the five-match T20I series at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street on Wednesday. The Men In Blue are coming on the back of an embarrassing 2-0 series defeat against Ireland.
India Vs England, 1st T20I: Toss Update And Playing XIs
India have won the toss and have opted to bat.
Spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi returned to the playing eleven for India but young batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi remained on the sidelines.
England had announced their playing eleven on the eve of the match.
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 (Playing XI): Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy
India Vs England, 1st T20I: Captain Speak
Harry Brook | England captain: Would've had a bowl, happy with that result. Looks like a good wicket. [On the challenge of switching from Test cricket to the shortest format and the mood within the England camp] The mood’s really good. We’re really looking forward to this series starting against a very strong Indian side, and, it’s good to be back with the lads. And that’s just part of cricket. You’ve just got to get ready for the next series as quickly as you possibly can, and try and make it as easy as you can for yourself. [On having an experienced squad to rely on during the series] Yeah, there’s a lot of experienced players, and that’s quite nice for me to be able to lean on them in the middle of the game as well. And having the likes of Jos Buttler and Phil Salt, Sam Curran out in the middle as well to lean on when I need some help, is really helpful. [On England’s playing XI and team combination] We are Jos Buttler, Salt to open the batting, me three, Bethell four, Livingstone five, Sam Curran six, Jacks seven, Dawson eight, Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, and Luke Wood nine, ten, eleven.
Shreyas Iyer | India captain: [On winning the toss and choosing to bat first at the start of the five-match series] We are going with bat first. Ireland is history. It’s a new series, five games, everything to play for. Certainly, this is a great opportunity for us. This is my first, second actually, second series as a captain. So, pretty much excited. We got what we wanted. We got a session of practice over here yesterday, pretty much acclimatized to the surrounding as well. So, looking forward for an exciting one. [On the mood in the dressing room after the Ireland series] It’s absolutely fine. To be honest, as you mentioned, Ireland series is history. We’ve got to learn a lot from that series. And coming over here, we know how England has been playing their cricket. So, definitely slightly upbeat, know their strengths and weaknesses, so looking forward to have a great one. [On his assessment of the pitch] There’s pretty decent amount of grass on the wicket. We practiced yesterday as well on the same one. So, can’t actually predict how the wicket’s going to play, but definitely the intent is going to be high. [On India’s team combination for the opening match] We are going with three spinners, with Axar being an all-rounder, and two seamers.
