Mohammed Shami returns, Sanju Samson included in India's T20I squad
What's the story
Sanju Samson has been picked over Rishabh Pant for India's upcoming T20I series against England.
The five-member national selection committee took the decision.
Suryakumar Yadav will continue to lead the side while Mohammed Shami returns to international cricket after a long injury layoff.
Axar Patel has been named vice-captain for the series.
Here are further details.
Squad changes
New faces and returns in India's T20I squad
Dhruv Jurel has been named the second wicketkeeper-batter for the England series.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, who recently impressed with his performances in Australia, also made it to the team.
Riyan Parag, however, was not considered for selection due to an injury.
The rest of the squad includes Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh among others.
Twitter Post
Twitter Post
#TeamIndia's squad for the T20I series against England 🔽
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 11, 2025
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 Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi,… https://t.co/eY8LUSspCZ
Information
India squad for England T20Is
Squad: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk).
Shami
Shami was seen in SMAT and VHT
Bengal pacer Shami was recently seen in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he claimed 11 wickets from 9 matches at 25.36.
He also went past 200 T20 scalps during the tourney (201 at 24.29). Shami has played 23 T20Is for India, claiming 24 scalps.
Meanwhile, Shami was next seen in the 2024/25 Vijay Hazare Trophy. He played three games and took 5 wickets.
Preference
Samson gets the nod over Pant
Samson will open for India alongside Abhishek Sharma. The senior batter owns three centuries in T20Is. All three of them came last year while opening.
Overall, Samson owns 810 T20I runs at 27.93. Pant, who was seen in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, was a vital cog for India in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024.
Thereafter, he featured in two T20Is versus Sri Lanka, scoring 49 and 2*, in July 2024.
Information
India and England to face off in 5 T20Is
The 5-match T20I series starts on January 22 in Kolkata. The 2nd T20I is on January 25 in Chennai. This is followed by matches on January 28, January 31 and February 2. The matches are to be held in Rajkot, Pune and Mumbai.