India will be hosting England for the white-ball series including five T20is and 3 ODIs before the all important Champions Trophy, 2025.
For the T20 series, Axar Patel has been appointed deputy to SuryaKumar Yadav. The five-match T20 series will begin from 22nd January at Kolkata with Chennai, Rajkot, Pune and Mumbai to host the remaining T20Is.
Ahead of the first T20, Axar said one can expect a floating batting order across five-match series.
“Batting wise, it’s not just with me, but we spoke in 2023-24 itself that the openers are fixed, but everyone from Nos. 3 to 7 have been told that they can come into bat anytime, in any situation. It is not just that one batter will bat at a particular position,” Axar told reporters on Monday.
“Our middle order will come to bat depending on the match situation, what kind of bowlers are bowling at the time, which match-up works well.
“We’ve spoken about that, how we can all be floaters, be it coming in early or obviously finishing. This is not just for me, but for everyone from No. 3 and below, especially if they are in good touch in the nets. We will adjust accordingly. In T20Is, how you use your batters is so crucial, so this is an important factor in batting.”
Axar also discussed how it feels to be a part of leadership group and was upbeat for the opportunity
“It has just been a day, but as part of the leadership group there is an extra responsibility,” Axar said.
“The T20I side is settled, so there’s not much pressure, but there are small decisions that need making and during the game I need to work closely with Suryakumar.
“As part of the leadership group, you have to learn to take harsh decisions. We have spoken about sharing our genuine opinions and that will help build trust in this group.
“The T20I format is such that it is so fast that you have to make decisions quickly, so the larger conversations [with the coaches] are about how to do that.”
The all-rounder also said that the side is already preparing for the title defense in 2026 as India don’t have too many T20Is lined up before they embark on their title defence: currently, they are scheduled to play three T20Is in Bangladesh in August, and five at home against South Africa later in the year.
“The World Cup is coming up in a year so how we approach leading up to that, we want to try it from now itself. That’s the main target,” Axar said.
“Momentum is a big thing because if you start well, you can carry it. We finished 2024 well so we want to carry the momentum into this series too.
“But we’ve discussed that the past is past, however, we want to move ahead with the positives we gained from there. We have taken forward the points that brought us success.
“Transition is also something happening, across all formats, but that’s a call for the selectors and captain to take.”
India T20 squad for England series:
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 Chakaravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk).
