ENG vs IND 2026: Why is Vaibhav Sooryavanshi not playing in 1st T20I?

India will take on England in a five-match T20I series with the opening T20I will happen on July 1 at Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street, Durham. England are coming into the series after a 1-2 Test series loss against New Zealand and will look to show their best in front of their home crowd. Meanwhile, the men in blue are also coming to this game after a whitewash against Ireland in a two-match T20I series and will look to bounce back from the series loss.

ENG vs IND: Toss update

Indian captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bat first. He said they are excited about this series and will keep the history aside against Ireland loss. He also conceded that there is a decent amount of grass and are going with three spinners. Harry Brook was happy to bowl first with them announcing their playing XI a day earlier and will look to get back on track after the Test series loss.

ENG vs IND: Men in Blue go with three spinners

India almost named an unchanged XI from their Ireland series with Varun Chakravarthy taking his place back into the XI. England will miss the services of Jofra Archer who has been rested for this game.

ENG vs IND: What did the captains say?

Shreyas Iyer, Indian 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.

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.

ENG vs IND: Playing XIs

India

Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy

England

Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w), Harry Brook(c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us: