India won the toss and chose to bowl first in 1st T20I.
The first T20I between India and England got underway at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on January 22, 2025. This is a five-match T20I series with Chennai, Rajkot, Pune, and Mumbai hosting the remainder of the matches.
England had announced its playing XI a day before on social media, which saw captain Jos Buttler batting at no. 3 and not keeping wickets, with Phil Salt opening and taking the gloves. England also banked on pace with Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, and Mark Wood in the XI.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and chose to bowl first in Kolkata, keeping the dew factor in mind. One of the most exciting things during Suryakumar’s conversation with Ravi Shastri at the toss was knowing the India playing XI.
Suryakumar revealed the 4 players who missed out: Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, and, as a surprise, Mohammad Shami. India went in with Arshdeep Singh as the lone pacer, with Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy as pace allrounders.
Many expected Mohammad Shami to walk into the XI after more than a year out of the game due to ankle surgery and then a lengthy rehab due to extra issues with his knees. However, despite warming up before the game, the Bengal pacer was left out of the playing XI.
Social media was abuzz with the news of Mohammad Shami missing out, and Indian cricket team fans were left in shock at the news and shared their reaction on X.
Here are the posts: