IND vs ENG: 1st T20I Preview – India, England face off in a blockbuster opener in Kolkata

India and England face each other in the first T20I in the five-match series at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, January 22. Suryakumar Yadav is set to lead the Men in Blue. Meanwhile, Jos Buttler will be captaining the Three Lions. India and England have been in great form in recent times in the shortest format and fans can expect to watch an exciting contest.

India defeated South Africa by a 3-1 margin in a four-match T20I series last year. This was before they embarked on a trip to Australia to play the Border-Gavaskar series. Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma slammed two centuries each in the series. Meanwhile, Varun Chakaravarthy finished as the highest wicket-taker, bagging 12 wickets from four matches at an average of 11.50.

England’s last T20I assignment was a five-match series against the West Indies in the Caribbean. The tourists won the first three matches to take an unassailable lead in the series. The West Indies won the fourth T20I, while the fifth one ended without a result. Phil Salt was the highest run-scorer, slamming 162 runs from four innings at an average of 54 and a strike rate of 165.31. Saqib Mahmood, on the other hand, was the pick of the bowlers as he bagged nine wickets from four matches at 10.56.

Pitch report:

Expect a high-scoring affair on Wednesday. This is because Eden Gardens has been one of the best venues in India for batters in recent years. The boundaries are on the shorter side and dew will also come into play as the game progresses. Defending a target isn’t going to be easy. 12 T20Is have taken place so far at the Eden Gardens, the team batting first has won five times while chasing teams have emerged victorious on seven occasions.

Probable Playing XI

India: Sanju Samson (WK), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (C), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy

England: Phil Salt (WK), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (C), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood