England vs India, 1st T20I - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Toss - India opt to bat

Surprise call with teams preferring to chase in this format but in a way it's good to bat first given there are no guarantees in a World Cup knockout game. Rohit wants to have a go straightaway after returning to the XI. Arshdeep Singh will make his debut for India tonight as well. For England, Sam Curran does return to the XI after 12 months. Harry Brook gets a chance too.

Teams:

England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(w/c), Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Reece Topley, Matthew Parkinson

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

The return of Rohit

It's absolutely vital for India that Rohit gets to play most of the games in the build up to the World Cup as their new leader. He has missed a few in recent times and his absence in the crucial Test match was definitely felt given he was in good nick last year. But now that he has recovered from Covid, he will be eager to get going again.

Build up

The schedule is indeed quite fickle. Barely 48 hours after the conclusion of the epic Test match in Edgbaston, the two teams are all set to take on each other once again. This time, it's in the shortest format. Bilateral T20Is usually don't carry a lot of significance but that's not the case with a World Cup just 3-4 months away. With that huge tournament coming up in Australia, this series is indeed quite crucial for both the sides.

India won't have the services of Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant for this opening game in order to give them enough time to recover from the Test match. But the rest of the first choice squad is indeed here. Spots in the fast-bowling department are still up for grabs and the contenders will be looking to make an impression indeed. And the challenge doesn't get bigger than this. England are certainly not at full tilt but their reserve unit is quite exciting as well. Their approach is not going to change one bit especially under a leader like Jos Buttler. So India will have their task cut out.

Buttler has led his side a few times but this will be his first assignment ever since he was appointed the full-time captain of the limited-over teams. He would love to begin with a bang. It will be interesting to see if Sam Curran slots in straightaway. He hasn't featured for England in this format in over a year. England are also likely to give the exciting Harry Brook an opportunity tonight. Welcome to the live blog for this first game of the limited-overs leg of the tour. Hopefully, we begin on a thrilling note.