At the best of times, bilateral T20I series in today's cricketing landscape serve one purpose – preparation for a major tournament. In the six to twelve months before a World Cup is when they garner the most attention, and appear to mean something a bit more.

Test and ODI series, meanwhile, with their longer durations, have more leeway and can exist in a more self-contained fashion: the series are relevant and significant for its own sake. And so, when T20I series comes outside a World Cup year, there's often an added layer of feeling about their futility. On the face of it, the upcoming India-England series is more or less the same – or even worse.

The Champions Trophy (a 50-over competition) starts next month, and the World Test Championship final is in June. Neither side is in the latter, but when the series was scheduled, either one of them could have made it.

(Why are there five T20Is and three ODIs in this tour just before a 50-over tournament instead of the other way around? *Shrug*)

Gambhir has little to gain and much to lose

With this as the backdrop, one can be forgiven for not looking forward to this rubber at all. But forget about those on the outside. This series is quite possibly the last thing that India's new main character, Gautam Gambhir, needs at this point in time. For him there is very little to gain, and much to lose.

Before taking on the India job, Gambhir cut his teeth (as much as one can, being a mentor) in the IPL. With that as his only previous experience running a cricket team, success in the shortest format is expected – especially when, in that format, the job he and his coaching staff are expected to do is keep a well-oiled machine running.

Read more: Record lows, leaked chats, explosive reports: Can coach Gambhir resurrect himself before it all falls apart?

But after the disastrous last three months in Test cricket, public sentiment for India's head coach is at an all-time low. If this series goes well, he will have done little to enhance his reputation – it's just India are expected to. Emerge with poor results though, and sparks of discontent could turn into a raging inferno.

Individuals to be the focus for India?

As far as a search for meaning in this series goes, there are individual threads to look forward to. Fast bowler Mohammed Shami will have his first taste of international cricket since the 2023 World Cup, as he steps up his recovery from injury. Performance may take a slight backseat here, with his physical fitness likely to be paramount ahead of the Champions Trophy.

Read more: How has Mohammed Shami fared for Bengal since his return from injury?

It's a big series for opener Abhishek Sharma as well. Consistency is perhaps a flawed metric to use when evaluating a batter's T20 game, but selectors and fans can be greedy, wanting the best of both worlds – high impact, day in and day out. Abhishek has the impact nailed down when he gets it right, but eight of his 11 T20I scores so far have been under 20.

He's already up against it, in competition with Yashasvi Jaiswal as the first-choice opener in this format, and strings of low scores are only going to affect his chances. But with a run of five matches against top-quality opposition (Sanju Samson is the only other regular opener selected for this series), it's an excellent chance for Abhishek to make his case.

Another player who could be playing for his place is Rinku Singh. He was extremely unlucky to miss out on last year's World Cup, but his form at the international level has tanked since then. There have been a 53 against Bangladesh and an unbeaten 48 against Zimbabwe, but even accounting for the limited opportunity he gets at the crease, he's struggled in vastly different conditions in Sri Lanka and South Africa.

Dhruv Jurel, in the squad as the backup wicketkeeper has also shown promise as a finisher and could be pushing him hard.

How many all-rounders is too many all-rounders?

On a lighter note, it could be interesting to see just how funky India want to be with their team selection. During the Australia Test series, they picked three all-rounders (by name) in the last two Tests, to much chagrin – and to the detriment of Jasprit Bumrah's back. But that kind of team composition is more than welcome in T20 cricket, where teams can thrive on batting depth.

Here, India have picked five all-rounders picked (on paper) as well as three batters who have all bowled in this format in international cricket. Harshit Rana has a first-class century and Mohammed Shami two Test half-centuries in England. Arshdeep Singh hit a career-high 49 in the recently concluded Vijay Hazare Trophy and even Varun Chakravarthy has shown some gumption with the bat for Tamil Nadu.

It won't happen, but an XI of Samson-Abhishek-SKY-Tilak-Rinku-Jurel-NKR-Hardik-Axar-Washington-Rana potentially gives India batting until No.10 at least, six spin-bowling options, three pacers and even two wicketkeepers.

Eleven players doing the job of 21? Yes, please.

Gambhir and McCullum: Same same, but different

Finally, a word on the opposition. This is Brendon McCullum's first series in charge of England's white-ball teams, and the clash of situation and styles between him and his Indian counterpart will never appear more stark than it does now.

If Gambhir has little to gain, McCullum has little to lose. With credit in the bank from his red-ball stint so far, and the immediate focus still largely on the ODI leg of this tour, as well as the Champions Trophy, he will be given the leeway of a few unsatisfactory results here and there.

McCullum's modus operandi has also been built on the buzzwords of "freedom" and "expression". Put that up against the latest news from the Indian camp, a ten-point policy document from the BCCI outlining do's and don'ts for their contracted players – something that wouldn't look out of place in a primary school.

Also read: IND vs ENG T20Is: Who’s in, Who’s out? Full squads and injury updates

But even amid this atmosphere of diametric opposition, there is a common thread. Gambhir and McCullum opened the batting together on 10 occasions in T20 cricket – averaging 53.3 as a pair. KKR was McCullum's first IPL franchise, and Gambhir's most successful one. McCullum began his coaching journey at a Knight Riders franchise, Gambhir won his first title as a staff member with one.

No doubt this sort of thread will make the skin crawl for a certain section of lovers of the game, but it is perhaps the first high-profile face-off at international level between two legitimate graduates of the franchise T20 system – something we are likely to only see more of.

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