Ahead of the first T20I of the five-match series between England and India, former India captain Kris Sriikanth has made a big claim about playing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the upcoming encounter, while unveiling his playing XI.
Notably, England have already unveiled their playing XI for the first game at the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street.
India is coming off a shock 0-2 series defeat to Ireland, as Shreyas Iyer started his T20I captaincy on a poor note. All the focus was on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s impending India debut, but the Men in Blue trusted in the T20 World Cup 2026 winning combination instead in the batting with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma opening and Ishan Kishan coming in at no.3.
Srikkanth believes Sooryavanshi missed a big opportunity in the second T20I against Ireland.
“He (Suryavanshi) should have played 100% in the second T20I against Ireland. Abhishek Sharma should have been rested as he got a brilliant 50 in the first match. Instead of him, Suryavanshi should have played. Abhishek Sharma is a certainty anyway, so Vaibhav Suryavanshi could have got a chance to play in the second Ireland match,” said Srikkanth on his YouTube channel.
Srikkanth believes India shouldn't alter the opening lineup at the beginning of the England series, despite his desire for Sooryavanshi to play in Ireland.
“For all you know, he might have won them the game because he has performed well in difficult conditions in the IPL. But now that he hasn’t played against Ireland, I won’t play him in the first two T20Is against England,” he said.
Furthermore, Srikkanth named his choice of India playing XI and stated that the batting should feature Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube.
He picked Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel as the two spinners, excluding Washington Sundar from the lineup. As for the pacers, Srikkanth went for Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav and Arshdeep Singh.
Kris Srikkanth's India XI for 1st T20I v England:
Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy
