India will play a five-match T20I series against England from January 22 and here’s the predicted XI for the first game at Eden Gardens.
Openers
Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma
Even as Samson’s place in the ODI team is uncertain after his axing from the Champions Trophy team, he seems to have cemented his place in the T20I side. Samson had a stellar 2024, making 436 runs in 12 innings at an average of 43.60 and a strike rate of 180.16. He also became the first Indian to score back-to-back T20I hundreds. He followed that with two consecutive ducks but ended the year with his third T20I ton, making 109* at Johannesburg.
The left-handed Sharma is a big stroke-maker in the powerplay, with a strike rate of 154.5 in 10 T20I innings. He has a strike rate of 160 across all T20s with five hundreds, which improves to 171.81 in international games. Sharma also has a hundred for India and his fearlessness sets up the momentum for the remaining batters.
