India vs England 2021: Rishabh Pant Returns; Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav And Rahul Tewatia Earn Maiden Call-Up As India Name T20I Squad

On a day when Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan smashed a plethora of records during his whirlwind 94-ball 173 against Madhya Pradesh on the opening day of Vijay-Hazare Trophy, he has earned his maiden call-up to Team India’s T20I squad for the upcoming series against England.

Apart from Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav finally earned a well-deserved call-up to the Indian T20I set-up, a fitting reward for his consistent performances in domestic cricket and the IPL. Rajasthan Royals spin-bowling all-rounder Rahul Tewatia has also earned a maiden call-up to the 19-men squad.

Dynamic wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant returns to Team India’s T20I set-up after having missed out in the last series in Australia. Pant has been named as the first-choice keeper while Ishan Kishan is listed as his backup, rising in pecking order ahead of Sanju Samson, who has been dropped.

Manish Pandey, who is currently recovering from a tennis-elbow injury, has also missed out. Left-arm orthodox Axar Patel has also earned a recall while Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested.

As far as the fast bowling department is concerned, it will be spearheaded by the comeback man Bhuvneshwar Kumar followed by the likes of T Natarajan, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur.

Kuldeep Yadav continues to be out of favor from the T20I set-up while Varun Chakravarthy, who missed out on the T20I series against Australia due to injury, has been included. Yuzvendra Chahal will lead the spin-bowling department. Washington Sundar has also retained his place in the squad.

Virat Kohli (Capt), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Y Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, W Sundar, R Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep, Shardul Thakur. https://t.co/KkunRWtwE6

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 20, 2021

The five-match T20I series between India and England will be played at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad from February 12.

 

Indian squad for T20I series vs England:

Virat Kohli (C), Rohit Sharma (VC), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, R Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini, Shardul Thakur