The Men in Blue are set to play against England, with five T20Is and three ODIs scheduled. Shreyas Iyer will be leading the side as the defending World champions look to show their dominance in the shortest format of the game. The 31-year-old was given charge of the team after Suryakumar Yadav was sacked.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshiwho created a storm with the bat during the IPL 2026 season for Rajasthan Royals, is also part of the T20I setup. Men in Blue will be missing out on Nitish Kumar Reddy and Hardik Pandya as both are sidelined due to injuries. Reddy was ruled out earlier on Tuesday after suffering an injury to his quadriceps.
In the ODI format, former skipper Virat Kohli has been successfully cleared to join the squad for the English tour. Jasprit Bumrah, who hasn’t played since the end of IPL 2026 season, is back for the three-match series as well. Shubman Gill and his side are expected to go into the tour with full confidence after their 3-0 series win over Afghanistan.
Indian cricket team’s strengths and weaknesses ahead of England series
Strengths
When we speak about the ODI squad, the presence of both Rohit Sharma and Virat will be huge for the visiting side. Both players have years of experience behind them and have toured England on plenty of occasions. In fact, Rohit has always preferred playing in these conditions and has tremendous numbers in the fifty-over format.
As far as the T20I side is concerned, it is more or less the same set of players that won the World Cup in March. The likes of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson will spearhead the batting with Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer at numbers three and four. Arshdeep Singh will lead the bowling attack and also has the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Prince Yadav in the side.
Weakness
Absence of Hardik and Nitish in the side could see Suryansh Shedge being named as the replacement player. The 23-year-old doesn’t have too much international exposure, barring his recent outing with the India A side. Shedge is a decent hitter of the ball, but his bowling could cause some concerns. He doesn’t have the pace of Pandya or Reddy and tends to bowl in the early to mid-120’s. Shivam Dube, who is also part of the squad, is known more for his batting and tends to bowl sparingly. Dube has picked 31 wickets from 64 matches with an economy rate of just under 10 and has rarely completed his quota of overs.
Another huge cause of concern is the absence of Varun Chakravarthy from the T20I side. The 34-year-old has done well against England, taking 15 wickets from six games with one fifer. Ravi Bishnoi, who is in the squad, is a very good bowler as well, but tends to be taken for plenty of runs in the shortest format of the game.
Key players to watch out for
Rohit Sharma – The 39-year-old Indian opener is just 280 runs away from completing 12,000 runs in the ODI format. Rohit has played 23 games against England and scored 846 runs with three tons and four fifties, and has an average of 47. In the English conditions, he has scored 1428 runs from 27 matches with seven centuries and an equal number of fifties with an average of 64.
Virat Kohli – Indian batting star is on the cusp of becoming the second man to score 15000 runs in the ODI format. Kohli has played 38 games against England and scored 1397 runs with three centuries and 10 fifties with an average of 41. In the English conditions, the veteran batter has scored 1349 runs from 33 matches with just one century and 12 half-centuries with an average of 51.
jasprit bumrah – The 32-year-old Indian pace ace is back in the national side after enjoying some time away from the game. jasprit bumrah has been a constant nemesis for England in every format of the game. He has taken 17 wickets against the English, including his career best figures of 6/19. When we speak about his numbers in those seam and swing-friendly conditions, the pacer has picked 30 wickets from 16 games with an economy of 4.5 runs per over.
India’s squads for England tour
T20I team – Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak VarmaVaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Suryanash Shedge, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
ODI team – Shubman Gill (C), Rohit SharmaVirat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Ishan Kishan, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar.
Comments are closed.