Saba Karim picked India's playing XI for the first T20I against England on Wednesday, July 1, which will be played at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street. After the two T20Is against Ireland this month, the Men in Blue will play England in a five-match T20I series.
Karim picked India's playing XI via Star Sports 'X' handle and interestingly left Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on the bench despite the 15-year-old's staggering performance in the IPL this year. The former India wicketkeeper picked the experienced
duo of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson to open the batting. At No. 3, he kept Ishan Kishan.
In the middle-order, the former national selector picked newly-appointed captain Shreyas Iyer, his deputy Tilak Varma, and veteran all-rounder Shivam Dube. Axar Patel, the former vice-captain, rounded off the top seven, being the lone spin-bowling all-rounder.
In the bowling department, Karim went for the fit-again Harshit Rana, India's leading wicket-taker in T20Is, Arshdeep Singh, and Prasidh Krishna as his three frontline pacers. Meanwhile, Varun Chakaravarthy got the nod as the sole specialist spinner.
Saba Karim's Team India playing XI for 1st T20I against Ireland: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh.
Apart from Sooryavanshi, Prince Yadav, Suryansh Shedge, and Ravi Bishnoi failed to make the cut in Karim's line-up. Yadav recently made his international debut in the series against Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Shedge joined the side at the last minute after Nitish Kumar Reddy was ruled out due to an injury.
India will begin their journey under new skipper Shreyas Iyer during the series. The Men in Blue became the first team to successfully defend the T20 World Cup title earlier this year. There is immense talent in Indian cricket, especially in the T20 format. It will be interesting to see how Iyer works in tandem with head coach Gautam Gambhir and usher in a new era for the Asian giants. The series against Ireland and England will help them assess how the youngsters are performing.
