India vs England 1st T20I: India Opt To Bat, Varun Chakaravarthy Returns

India won the toss and elected to bat first against England in the opening match of the five-match T20I series at the Riverside Ground on Wednesday, aiming to bounce back from their 2-0 series defeat to Ireland.

Shreyas Iyer, India captain, confirmed that mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy has returned to the side after recovering from a foot injury that ruled him out of the Ireland series.

India opted for a spin-heavy attack featuring Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, and Chakaravarthy, while Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh were the two specialist seamers, with Shivam Dube serving as the sixth bowling option.

Iyer said the Ireland series was now behind the team and described the England tour as a fresh opportunity. He added that India had acclimatised well after a practice session at the venue and stressed that the team had studied England’s strengths and weaknesses.

Assessing the pitch, Shreyas Iyer noted that it had a fair amount of grass and said the wicket’s behaviour was difficult to predict, but the team’s intent would remain aggressive.

England captain Harry Brook said he was satisfied with bowling first as his side began the T20I series after a Test series defeat to New Zealand. He said the squad was eager to start the series against a strong Indian team and highlighted the value of experienced players such as Jos Buttler, Phil Salt, and Sam Curran, whose presence would provide support during the match.

Playing XIs

England: Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (captain), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood.

India: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy.

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