After suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the rescheduled fifth Test, India will aim to make amends in the limited overs series against England.
The Indians have been playing non-stop in the last 8-10 months with hardly any breaks between series. There have been times when Indian teams have been playing international cricket simultaneously in different parts of the world.
It is therefore no surprise that the three-match T20I series is scheduled to start two days after the end of the Birmingham Test.
India, who have rested several of their Test stars for the opening T20I against England in Southampton on Thursday, will look to get off to a winning start.
Captain Rohit Sharma will be back to lead the team after missing the Test match because of COVID-19, but Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant will miss the series opener.
Rohit is likely to open with Mumbai Indians team-mate Ishan Kishan, who has been the opener for India in recent T20Is with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sanju Samson relegated to the bench.
Deepak Hooda has sealed his place at No 3 with some good knocks recently, with Suryakumar Yadav likely to bat at No 4 despite not scoring too many in the last few games.
India will hope that Hardik Pandya batting at No 5 can perform the role of the sixth bowler, which will allow them to go in with an extra batter.
Dinesh Karthik will aim to continue his good recent run and excel in the role of finisher in the last few overs.
Among the bowlers, Yuzvendra Chahal and Axar Patel are likely to be the two spinners, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel and Avesh Khan the three frontline pace bowlers.
India have been experimenting a lot with their T20 team in the last few months with an eye on this year's T20 World Cup, but against England they will want to field their most competitive
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wicket-keeper), Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Avesh Khan.
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