Kolkata, Jan 22: Veteran fast-bowler Mohammed Shami missed out on making his international comeback as India won the toss and elected to bowl first against England in the T20I series opener at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

Shami was highly expected to play his international comeback game, but the wait has now extended as India opted to have a bowling line-up of Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Arshdeep Singh as fast-bowlers, while Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakaravarthy will handle the spin-bowling department.

"The wicket looks sticky, dew could be a little heavier later on. It's gonna be great competition between both sides. Selection a good headache, sticking to our strengths. The boys have been amazing. The preparations have been good, looking forward to this series. It's going to be great competition between both the sides,” said India captain Suryakumar Yadav.

For England, Brydon Carse, Jamie Smith, Saqib Mahmood and Rehan Ahmed missed out on selection in the game at Kolkata. " Looks a good wicket, I'm sure it's going to be a good match. There will be some dew around. It's a great ground, it's an honour to play against India in these conditions.”

“Everyone's in a good spot, some of the boys have played some franchise cricket, Baz (Brendon McCullum) takes charge (as new white-ball coach), lots to look forward to. Incredible talent on both sides, sure both teams will be ultra aggressive. It's going to be a challenge, we are right up for it," said skipper Jos Buttler.

Playing XIs

India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, and Varun Chakaravarthy.

England: Ben Duckett, Philip Salt (wk), Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, and Mark Wood

(IANS)

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