Unagitated by the lingering fitness concerns surrounding Mohammed Shami, the Men in Blue team will be eyeing to extend their lead against England in the second game of a five-match series, on Saturday (Jan 25). 

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India lead the series 1-0 after a thumping seven-wicket victory at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. The hosts would certainly want to see Shami in action but his inclusion in playing XI, as things stand now, will depend on further evaluation of his fitness. 

The 34-year-old pacer was expected to feature in the first game and was actively involved in the nets too, but his comeback was postponed possibly because the management wanted to take a closer look at his availability. 

However, India did not miss Shami much in Kolkata where left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh, with the new ball, and spinner Varun Chakravarthy, in the middle phase, ran riot against England, producing impressive spells. 

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From England’s perspective, they would require more contributions from experienced spinners Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone to challenge the hosts. 

Apart from pacer Jofra Archer, none of the other English bowlers could survive the onslaught of Abhishek Sharma and the mini cameo of Sanju Samson in the first T20I. 

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Sanju-Abhishek pair on a roll 

Since coming together in the T20Is last year, Samson and Abhishek have had considerable success, often giving India a flying start. 

The desired double-barrel firing has been occasional, but at least one of them has produced the goods rather consistently. In Kolkata, Abhishek hurt England with a brutal knock, striking at over 230. 

Samson has three hundreds in the last six innings, and it would not be unrealistic to imagine these two as the first-choice openers once India hit the road to next year’s T20 World Cup at home. 

They also offer that rare right-hand-left-hand combination at the top. In Chennai, the Indian openers will be hoping to give their side a solid start considering the tricky nature of the Chepauk pitch. 

England too will hope for a fiery start from their openers to clinch early momentum, as Phil Salt and Ben Duckett jointly made just four runs off seven balls. 

Time for Surya to shine 

It’s not a matter of grave concern yet but skipper Suryakumar Yadav will be mindful of the fact that he has just two fifties in the previous 11 innings after the T20 World Cup final in 2024. 

But the captain will be hoping for a fruitful outing in the second T20I and would not want to miss the party for long. 

Squads: 

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vice-captain), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper). 

England: Jos Buttler (captain), Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Phil Salt (wicketkeeper), Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood. 

(With inputs from agencies)