The Bengal pacer Mohammed Shami has returned to India’s Squad for the T20I series against England for a home tour.
Shami’s last outing comes from the finals of the ODI World Cup 2023 against Australia, after which he was ruled out due to ankle injury for which he underwent surgery last year.
Despite returning to competitive cricket by the time of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, a swell on his knee has prevented him joining the Indian team leaving the Bumrah with bulk of pace bowling load.
Suryakumar Yadav-led side will play in the five-match T20I series in England’s tour of India 2025 with Axar Patel being named as his deputy.
India Squad for England T20Is: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk).
This is the first time Axar Patel has been elevated to the position of the vice-captaincy of the Indian team in any format, and it seems to be rewarded for his all-rounder performance in India’s trimphant campaign in the T20 World Cup in June last year.
He picked nine wickets in eight matches at 19.22, scored 92 runs with an average of 23.00 including a crucial 47 off 31 balls in the final against South Africa.
A look at the Suryakumar Yadav-led squad for the T20I series against England 🙌#TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/nrEs1uWRos
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 11, 2025
BCCI has announced 15 member squad where the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Nitish Reddy, Harshit Rana and Varun Chakaravarthy has been named in the squad.
However, the wk-batter Rishabh Pant, openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are the notable exclusion. Sanju Samson and Dhruv Jurel are the two wicketkeepers picked for series.
According to sources, “Pant, Jaiswal and Gill have been rested from this series from this series to allow them to recover fully after a gruelling five-test Border Gavaskar series in Australia, for the ODIs against England and the Champions Trophy in February.”
Samson who smashed back-to-back centuries in T20 internationals when he scored 107 runs off 50 balls with seven fours and ten sixes, following up on his 40-ball hundred against Bangladesh.
“It was impossible to exclude Sanju where he’s been in this blazing form,” said a BCCI source.
Meanwhile Reddy was picked ahead of pace all-rounder Shivam Dube who missed the last T20I assignment due to an injury.
Washington Sundar will be placed in the squad along with Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi, while Kuldeep Yadav has been excluded.
Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan and Yash Dayal from their previous T20I squad and included Harshit Rana to partners Shami and Arshdeep Singh in the pace attack against England.
The first match of the T20I series against England will be played on January 22 at Eden Gardens.
