Right arm fast bowler Mohammed Shami has been suspended from the Indian playing XI league first T20I against England at Eden GardensKolkata. Despite expectations that he will return to international cricket after recovering from injury, Shami’s absence has raised eyebrows among fans.
Reasons for Mohammed Shami’s exclusion
The decision to leave Shami out of the squad comes at a time when India have decided to back their spin department heavily for this match. Captain Suryakumar Yadav revealed that the team management decided to include only one specialist pacer, Arshdeep Singhrelying on all-round bowlers Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
“Prolamka looks sticky, later there will be dew. It will be harder later,” Yadav said at the toss. “Choosing a good headache, sticking to our strengths,” he said when asked about Šami’s absence.
Meanwhile, England have made a few changes to their T20I squad and named Brendon McCullum as their new white ball coach. Boasting a line-up packed with powerful batsmen, the team looks formidable on paper, promising an explosive start in the first T20I.
“It looks a good wicket, I’m sure it will be a good match. There will be some dew around. This is a great pitch, it’s an honor to play against India in these conditions.” said the English captain Jos Buttler after losing the toss. “McCullum takes responsibility, he has a lot of experience. It will be a challenge, we are ready for it. There’s incredible talent on both sides.” he added.
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IND vs ENG: Playing XI of both teams
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (ie), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy
England: Ben Duckett, Philip Salt (wk), Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
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