Mohammed Shami will finally return to the Indian set-up after being out of action for over a year due to injury. He will take part in the five-match T20I series against England, which will begin later this month when the BCCI announces the squad for the series.

He underwent surgery to repair his Achilles tendon last year and returned to competitive cricket in the Ranji Trophy. After the red-ball format, he also featured in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a T20 format, before playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Bengal, proving his fitness after missing out on a place in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

The team hopes to see him unscathed in the T20I series, so that they can include him in the ODI setup without worrying about his fitness. India will also play the ODI series against England before the important Champions Trophy 2025.

Also Read: India Speedster delivers with the bat! Smash 49 out of 39 in Vijay Hazare Trophy match

Shocking call for Dhruv Jurel

Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel has been preferred over Rishabh Pant as the back-up wicketkeeper, with Sanju Samson being the lead batsman. Despite having ample opportunities in the shortest format, Pant’s returns were disappointing, so the team eventually moved on and tried new faces.

Jurel, who has played only two T20Is, was chosen as the second wicketkeeper ahead of Pant. In 40 T20s, Jurel 21 and has a strike rate of 133.

However, those figures don’t reveal exactly how good the development of Jurel has been. In 28 IPL matches, Jurel averages 23 and has a strike rate of over 150.

Nitish Kumar Reddy to remain in T20I side; Riyan Parag misses

Nitish Kumar Reddy, who has had an exceptional start to his international career, will continue to perform in the shorter format. He has 90 runs at a strike rate of 180 in three T20Is, including a fifty.

Meanwhile, Riyan Parag will remain out of action due to a right shoulder injury. The BCCI released an update, revealing that he was at the BCCI Center of Excellence to find a long-term solution to this injury during the team announcement for the South Africa series in October last year.

Shivam Dube is also excluded from the team due to the emergence of Nitish Kumar Reddy. Yashasvi Jaiswal did not return to the T20I side, while Abhishek Sharma, who has had ups and downs at the international level, was named.

The five-match T20I series against England will begin on January 22 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. A three-match ODI series against the same opponent will follow which will serve as a warm-up for the Champions Trophy.

Another notable addition is that of Axar Patel as vice-captain of the team.

India team for England T20Is

Suryakumar Yadav (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Trevally (week)

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