India VS England 1st T20I Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
India VS England 1st T20I Date: Wednesday, January 22
BetXchange India VS England 1st T20I Odds:
History
India and England will begin an eight-match white-ball series on Wednesday. The two rivals will play five T20I matches, followed immediately by three ODIs.
This should be a fun series between two competent short-format countries. Big crowds are expected, with each of the eight matches to be played in a different city. These venues include the opener in Kolkata, the final T20I in Mumbai, and the final game of the tour in Ahmedabad.
The crowd at Eden Gardens in Kolkata will be especially vocal, as this is the first T20I at the venue in almost three years.
The series pits twp-time T20 World Cup winners England against the current champs, and with just over a year to go until the 2026 T20 World Cup, this is a critical series to see how preparations are going in both camps.
This will be the first white-ball series between England and India in almost three years. The hosts won the T20Is on foreign soil on that occasion. India won the first two matches at the Rose Bowl, and Edgbaston, with England, only held serve at home at Trent Bridge when the outcome of the three-match series had already been decided.
India
India has named a mixed squad with a combination of experience and youth as they look forward to hosting duties at the 2026 T20 World Cup.
The biggest miss will be Jasprit Bumrah, with the right-arm pacer not recovering from back spasms he suffered against Australia in December. He is included in the provisional ODI squad.
In better news for the hosts, this series sees the return of Mohammed Shami to the international fold. Shami last played for India as they lost the 0DI World Cup final to Australia in November 2023. A series of injuries have kept Shami out of the lineup, but he is back in contention.
Test stars left out of the squad and likely rested after the brutal five-Test marathon against the Aussies include wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
England
England will be without a significant part of their white-ball squad, with Test captain Ben Stokes out after hamstring surgery. The 33-year-old all-rounder is working hard to return by mid-spring, but this series comes far too early for Stokes to be involved.
Captain Jos Buttler will be expected to perform well, with stars including Harry Brook and Jofra Archer in the Enlgnad 15-man squad.
Joe Root also returns to the squad after a two-year absence. This is massive for England, as Root has been prolific with the bat wherever he has played his cricket over the last six months.
Best Bets
England has every chance to win this match and is worth a punt at 13/10. I like the value there. Brook at 71/28 to be England’s top batsman is also a bet I like if you want to play the props market.
