Former opener Wasim Jaffer removes Sanju Samson and Umran Malik India XI for the first T20 match against England. After losing the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston, the Indian team would like to make a comeback against England. Both the teams will face each other in the three-match T20 series starting on Thursday.
India still trying to find the right combination for the upcoming T20 World Cup and the young stars will try to give a perfect audition in the upcoming T20I series against England.
Senior players including Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Shreyas Iyer have been rested for the opening match of the series as they join the squad from the second T20I.
Jaffer took to Twitter to share his XI for the opening match of the series. He picked skipper Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan as the starting combination, while he dropped Samson from his favorite XI. Other omissions include Umran Malik, Axar Patel and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Jaffer wrote: “My playing XI for tonight, Rohit, Ishan, Hooda, SKY, Hardik, Karthik, Harshal, Bhuvi, Avesh, Chahal, Bishnoi.”
my playing XI for tonight
Rohit
Ishaan
Hooda
sky
Heartfelt
karthiki
Harshal
Bhuvik
Avesh
first
Bishnoiwhat is yours #Engwind
— Wasim Jaffer (@wasim jaffer14) 7 July 2022
The former India opener picked Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Avesh Khan as pacers in the series opener. It will be important for Harshal and Avesh to make an impact as Bumrah will get a direct entry into the XI from the second T20I which will make things difficult for other pacers except Bhuvneshwar.
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With Kohli expected to be back at number three from the second game, Deepak Hooda will be aiming for another match-winning effort to keep himself in the mix. Hooda with a century and 47 not out against Ireland has certainly made it difficult for the team management to keep him out of the eleven. The uncapped pair of Rahul Tripathi and Arshdeep Singh have not been included for the second and third T20Is and are unlikely to play on Thursday. Suryakumar Yadav, who made a comeback from injury against Ireland, could not miss the games in Malahide and will back himself to get back to his innovative best. He and Hooda were among the run-scorers in practice against Derbyshire last week.
Indian team for first T20 match: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaekwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel , Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.
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