While India and England battle it out in the four-Test series, for the Anthony de Mello Trophy, the focus would shift to five Twenty20 Internationals soon. Meanwhile, the national selectors have announced a 19-member squad for the same.
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As the squad was announced on Saturday evening, it had a notable few inclusion, along with an important exclusion. Wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson has missed out following a string of inconsistent runs, despite a healthy outing for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League last year.
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As for the inclusions, three members have earned their maiden call-up to the side and would be in line for a debut. Suryakumar Yadav (batsman), Rahul Tewatia (all-rounder), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper-batsman) are the ones who have been rewarded for their prolific outing in IPL 2020.
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Suryakumar had a terrific outing with Mumbai Indians last season, finishing as the third-highest run-scorer for the side, while Kishan was the highest run-scorer for the side, the same season. Kishan also scored a quickfire 173 off just 94 deliveries for Jharkhand in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.
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As for Tewatia, he can be considered as the next Hardik Pandya. While he can bowl at a decent pace, his explosive hitting abilities shot him into fame during his stint with RR last season.
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Meanwhile, the squad would also witness the return of experienced and senior guns, like Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rishabh Pant, along with young spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who is also in line for his debut. All-rounder Axar Patel is also back in the picture, following a decent outing in the IPL and a successful debut in the second Test against England.
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Chakravarthy was effective with his spin bowling for Kolkata Knight Riders last season. Meanwhile, seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who last played a T20I in December 2019, would be back after missing out for more than a year, owing to multiple injuries.
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India T20I squad vs EnglandVirat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Navdeep Saini andShardul Thakur.
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