The first match of the five-match T20 series between India and England will be played on January 22, 2025 in Kolkata. Let’s try to find out the playing XI of the Indian team for this match.

1. Sanju Samson (wk)

Sanju Samson, who made his debut in 2015, has finally fixed his place in India’s T20I playing XI. Besides being an opener, Sanju Samson will also be the wicket keeper of the Indian team. Because Sanju Samson has scored three centuries in his last five T20 internationals so there is no question of him being dropped from the playing XI.

2. Abhishek Sharma

The left hander from Punjab will partner Sanju Samson at the top. This is a very important series for Abhishek Sharma. In his short T20I career so far, he has been very inconsistent. His scores in 11 innings are 0, 100, 10, 14, 16, 15, 4, 7, 4, 50, 36. If he doesn’t do something special in this series then he might loose his place to Yashasvi Jaiswal in the next series.

3. Tilak Varma

After scoring two back to back centuries batting at no.3 against South Africa, Tilak Varma will definitely start at no.3 against England. In 19 T20I innings, he has scored 616 runs at an average of 51.33 and strike rate of 161.26 which includes 2 centuries and 2 half centuries. Certainly, he is a future star of Indian cricket.

4. Suryakumar Yadav (c)

At no.4, here comes the captain of the Indian T20I team, Suryakumar Yadav.‌ Under his leadership, the Indian team has performed very well and he would like to continue this. From a personal point of view, his own performance with the bat hasn’t been upto his own standards in the last two series, so he would like to improve that in this series and would want to get back to his best. Nonetheless, he is still one of the best T20 batters in the world and he is very crucial for the Indian team in those middle overs who can score a lot of runs with his unorthodox batting technique by manipulating with the field settings set by the opposition team.

5. Nitish Kumar Reddy

Sought as a backup of Hardik Pandya, the pace bowling all rounder from Andhra Pradesh has been brilliant since his debut for the Indian team in both T20I and tests. In 3 T20I matches that he has played, he has scored runs at an average of 45 and with a strike rate of 180, in which his highest score is 74 against Bangladesh in Delhi. He also took 3 wickets in the T20 series against Bangladesh. In the recently concluded Border Gavaskar Trophy, he scored 298 runs at an average of 37.25 in five matches, his highest being 114 at the MCG. In that series, he was the second highest run-scorer for India after Yashasvi Jaiswal. In bowling, he took 5 wickets, which includes some crucial breakthroughs. Although his bowling is still a work in progress, he adds value to the team as a fourth pacer and also increases the batting depth of the team.

6. Rinku Singh

Rinku Singh is one of the designated finishers of the Indian T20I team. When the team faces difficult situations, he always stands up. Be it against Afghanistan, when the Indian team lost 4 wickets on 22 runs, he then went on to score 69 runs and made an unbeaten partnership of 190 runs with Rohit Sharma and took the team total to 212 runs, or be it against Bangladesh, when the Indian team lost 3 wickets on 41 runs, he then went on to score 53 runs off 29 balls and made a partnership of 108 runs with Nitish Kumar Reddy and helped the team to get to a match-winning total. Rinku Singh is the man of crisis for the Indian team in the middle order.

7. Hardik Pandya

The former vice-captain of this team, Hardik Pandya is currently perhaps the best pace-bowling all-rounder in the world in white-ball cricket. He has always performed on big occasions. He can build an innings, as well as play the role of a finisher. His hard-hitting ability is second to none. He will play a crucial role in the batting along with Rinku Singh in the lower order. Also in bowling, he has evolved throughout the years. He has decent pace of around 135 km/h-140 km/h; he can swing the ball upfront and has a good bouncer as well. In the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024, he took some crucial wickets with the ball, especially the wickets of Heinrich Klassen and David Miller in the final match. Overall, he is an integral part of the Indian white-ball team.

8. Axar Patel

Who can forget his three wickets against England in the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup and his crucial 47 against South Africa in the final? He is always a reliable option for the captain, be it batting or bowling. Axar Patel can bat in any position from 4-8 and can bowl at any phase, be it in the powerplay or in the middle overs. In this T20 series against England, he has been awarded the vice-captaincy of the team, and hopefully he can fulfill this role as well.

9. Varun Chakravarthy

Varun Chakravarthy could be the lone pure spinner in the playing XI. Since his comeback in the Indian T20I team after 3 years, he has been superb with the ball. In the 3-match T20I series against Bangladesh in October 2024, he picked 5 wickets at an average of 14.60. In the next month, when the Indian team toured South Africa for a four-match T20 series, there he took 12 wickets at an average of 11.50 and became the leading wicket-taker in that series. He has been excellent with his variations, and the opposition batters are clearly struggling against him. He has definitely earned his place in the playing XI with his performances.

10. Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami is set to make his international comeback after 15 months. After the 2023 50-over World Cup final against Australia, he was out of international cricket due to an injury. It remains to be seen what kind of bowling rhythm Mohammed Shami is in. He has one of the best seam positions in the world and is superb with the new ball. He has performed exceedingly well for Team India in all formats and on big events, especially the 50-over tournaments. With the Champions Trophy coming in next month, the Indian team would be hopeful that Mohammed Shami gets back to his best in this T20I series.

11. Arshdeep Singh

Arshdeep Singh needs just one wicket to equal the record of becoming the leading wicket-taker for India in T20Is. He has currently taken 95 wickets in just 60 innings at an impressive strike rate of 13.05. In the Indian T20I team, he is the best pacer after Jasprit Bumrah. He is probably the current best swing bowler in India, and he also has a very good yorker. That’s why he has been successful both with the new ball and at the death overs.In just two and a half years from his debut, he has become a match winner in the T20 format. It’s just a matter of time before he becomes a permanent member of the other formats of the game also.

India probable XI:

Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.

India T20I Squad:

Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana.