No place for Rinku Singh, Hardik vs Nitish; Shami back after 26 months: India's likely XI for 1st T20I vs England

The five-match T20I series between India and England will begin on Wednesday evening at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Gautam Gambhir has had all his success as India's coach in the shortest format, and the side are yet to lose a series under him in T20Is. The Suryakumar Yadav-led team will look to set the tempo in the series opener against Jos Buttler's team. Here is India's likely XI vs England for the 1st T20I at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Rinku Singh is unlikely to miss out while Mohammed Shami returns. (AP/AFP )

Gautam Gambhir was scrutinised for his selection calls during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which India lost 1-3. So it will be interesting to see whether he makes any out-of-the-box calls, such as picking Harshit Rana and favouring him ahead of Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Shami.

Mohammed Shami is all set to make his comeback in international cricket after being on the sidelines for more than a year due to an injury. If the speedster plays the first match, it would be his first T20I for India in over two years. His last T20I was in November 2022.

Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma are expected to open the batting for India. The right-handed Samson has been in phenomenal form in T20Is, scoring three centuries in his last five matches. The omission from the Champions Trophy squad will give him extra motivation to perform.

On the other hand, Abhishek Sharma has not set the stage on fire. However, the lack of opening options will possibly result in the left-hander from Punjab getting an extended run. Tilak Varma is expected to bat at No.3 as he scored back-to-back centuries in the last T20I series against South Africa.

Suryakumar Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel are all set to feature in the middle-order. Varun Chakravarthy is also guaranteed a spot as the spinner ahead of Ravi Bishnoi.

The Rinku Singh conundrum

Gautam Gambhir likes to play as many all-rounders as possible and we saw this even in the Test series against Australia. Based on the current selection calls, Washington Sundar is expected to start ahead of Rinku Singh.

Slotting Rinku Singh at No.7 or 8 might be too low for a batter of his capabilities; hence, the team might prefer Washington Sundar ahead of the 27-year-old.

India's predicted XI for the first T20I against England

Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav ©, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel (VC), Washington Sundar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy.

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