IND vs ENG 1st T20I Predicted Playing 11: Will India play three spinners to counter Buttler’s England at Eden?

While the extensive T20I series may not be of great importance with the Champions Trophy fast approaching, the upcoming series will offer a glimpse into the future ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup in the country, with two electrifying batting units locking horns. The spotlight will also be on India’s veteran paceman Mohammad Shami who is on the comeback trail.

Here is a look at the predicted Playing XIs for the first T20I between India and England:

India predicted XI vs England: It is unlikely that the Suryakumar Yadav-led side will tinker too much from its past XIs against the South Africa in November and Bangladesh before that at home. India’s top seven nearly pick themselves with the only point of contention likely to be the choice of an extra spinner or seam-bowling all-rounder in Nitish Kumar Reddy.

India probable XI: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy/Washington Sundar/Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.

England XI vs India: The Englishmen have opted to go for extra pace for the hard deck at Eden as Jos Buttler will shepherd his troops from the outfield, without the wicket-keeprs gloves. The extra pace will be enticing to watch against a hard-hitting Indian top-order.

England XI for first T20I: Phil Salt (wk), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.

India vs England T20I Squads

India Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), 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.

England Squad: Ben Duckett, Philip Salt(w), Jos Buttler(c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood, Brydon Carse, Jamie Smith, Rehan Ahmed.