 "India vs England T20 series: Shami's return, Bazball's white-ball debut and other key talking points")
With both teams out of contention as far as the ICC World Test Championship final is concerned and the bilateral Test series between these two nations still a long way off, India and England will be turning their focus to limited-overs cricket for the next few months, starting with the five-match T20I series that gets underway on Wednesday in Kolkata.
The Men in Blue will be returning to a format that they had dominated last year, winning 24 out of 26 games including two Super Over wins and lifting the T20 World Cup for a second time. And a series victory in front of home fans is something that India will be desperate for after their forgettable run in Test cricket spanning the last three months.
England, on the other hand, had gone through a decline in limited-overs cricket starting with their below-par 2023 World Cup campaign, and after suffering a series loss against Australia at home and also in the West Indies recently, will be eager to return to winning ways.
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Before the series gets underway, we take a look at five key talking points:
Shami’s long-awaited return
The single-biggest talking point ahead of the five-match T20I series against England is Mohammed Shami’s long-awaited return to the Indian team for the first time since the 2023 ODI World Cup, in which the 34-year-old had finished as the leading wicket-taker.
Shami had undergone surgery to repair his Achilles heel, and after sitting out of the IPL as well as the T20 World Cup, was expected to make a comeback sometime during the home Tests or in the tour of Australia. He would eventually make his return to competitive cricket for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy, and would also take part in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy before getting the green signal from the National Cricket Academy as well as the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee.
Shami isn't expected to feature in all five T20Is given the team management will be careful about his workload. But how he fares on his international return and is able to bowl four overs without facing physical discomfort is what will be a priority for the hosts given he will be expected to play a major role in the Champions Trophy.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHow Axar functions as the new vice-captain
Another key change to India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against England was the selectors naming spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel the vice-captain instead of Hardik Pandya, who had led the Men in Blue in the shortest format for a year when Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were on a self-imposed exile from Twenty20 Internationals.
India had named Shubman Gill, who led a second-string Indian team to a 4-1 series victory in Zimbabwe, as Suryakumar Yadav’s deputy ahead of the tour of Sri Lanka. But with Gill just returning from a hectic tour of Australia, the selectors decided to rest him for the England T20Is and instead name Axar for the job. It remains to be seen whether the 31-year-old is a long-term choice for the role or not. But it certainly will be interesting to see him be part of the leadership group.
India’s “flexible middle order”
In his first press conference as India’s vice-captain, Axar also commented on India’s batting order and how none of the batting positions except for the openers were fixed. “Batting wise, it’s not just with me, but we spoke in 2023-24 itself that the openers are fixed, but everyone from Nos. 3 to 7 have been told that they can come into bat anytime, in any situation. It is not just that one batter will bat at a particular position,” Axar told reporters at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday ahead of the first T20I.
So while Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma can expect continuity throughout the series, Tilak Varma could be asked to bat lower down the order after performing brilliantly at No 3 ahead of skipper Surya, who had moved himself to the No 4 slot in the process and could hold himself back even further to give other members of the squad a shot. And someone like Axar and Rinku Singh or even Nitish Kumar Reddy could then bat higher up the order depending on the situation.
Bazball makes its white-ball debut
The T20I series in India will also be Brendon McCullum’s first game since he was appointed England head coach in the white-ball formats in September. This was after the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to part ways with Matthew Mott following the team’s disappointing title defences in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2024 T20 World Cup.
McCullum hadn’t assumed charge for the white-ball series against Australia at home as well as the tour of the Caribbean, with former England opener Marcus Trescothick temporarily filling in for those assignments, as he was focussed on the long home Test season as well as the tours of Pakistan and New Zealand. But with England’s focus now firmly on the shorter formats, especially ODIs, McCullum will be hoping to bring some of the ‘Bazball’ magic over to the white-ball arena.
How Bethell fares in maiden trip to India
Among the most talked about players in English cricket in recent months is Barbados-born Jacob Bethell, who struck a whirlwind 44 off just 24 balls in just his second international appearance during the T20I series against Australia and has been striking at 167.96 in the seven T20Is that he has played so far. The 21-year-old was also impressive on Test debut in New Zealand last month, scoring three half-centuries during the course of the three-match series and finishing the third-highest run-scorer (260 runs at an average of 52).
How Bethell, who will be representing the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL later this year, fares in his maiden trip to India will be something that the English team management will be observing closely, given they will be playing an ICC event in the Indian subcontinent next month.
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