India vs England 2021: England And Wales Cricket Board Announces 16-Man Squad For T20I Series

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have announced the England squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against India. Currently, the visitors are in India engaged in a four-match Test series and have won the first Test match in Chennai by 227 runs and will play the second Test also at the same venue on February 13 onwards.

The five-match T20I series will be played entirely at the New Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad. The stadium is the largest cricket stadium in the world and has hosted the knockout matches of the recent 2020-21 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy tournament. The matches will be played on March 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20, under strict bio-bubble security.

Jos Buttler, Chris Jordan, Jason Roy Selected In The 16-Man Squad For The T20I Series

The touring party will leave England on Friday 26 February and sees Jos Buttler returning to the team after missing the three-Test matches against India. The 16-man squad is a full-strength team, which also sees the return of 27-year-old Liam Livingstone. The Lancashire batsman was part of England’s ODI squad on their recent tour of South Africa.

After impressive performances in the recent Big Bash League season for the Perth Scorchers, Livingstone, who last played a T20I for the English team in June 2017, was included in the England squad for the India series. England also sent a full-strength squad to South Africa earlier this year in a bid to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup in India.

England have named two reserve players in Jake Ball and Matt Parkinson who will serve as backups should a pacer or a spinner get injured or sick. Captain Eoin Morgan spoke in August about the need for “getting our strongest team on the park as often as we can to define (their) roles” as the cricket calendar continues to be disrupted by COVID-19.

After the five-match T20I series in the new Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, the English team will travel to Pune for the three-match ODI series which begins from March 23.

England T20I squad for the India series:

Eoin Morgan (C), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.

Reserves: Jake Ball, Matt Parkinson

Also Read: India vs England 2021: ‘I’m Not Assuming Anything’ Says James Anderson Who Could Be Rested For The Second Test