India eye return to winning ways as England gear up for T20I series

After a shock series defeat against Ireland in the two-match T20I series, Team India will have to rally and regroup against a much more formidable opponent. The Men in Blue hit the yard once again and this time against England in Durham.

With an identical squad named against England, it provides a chance for the Men in Blue to claim some redemption.

England, on the contrary, will be playing their first T20I series after the 2026 T20 World Cup. They will also be eyeing revenge after crashing out of the World Cup following a defeat to India in the semi-finals. England has a fairly experienced squad at their behest with Harry Brook leading the lines. Apart from Brook, England will be banking upon the seasoned names of Adil Rashid, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer and Sam Curran.

For the Men in Blue, obviously one of the major driving points will be to get their batting sorted. In both the games against Ireland, India had a shocking collapse and that is exactly what will be keeping Shreyas Iyer cuffed up. Iyer himself couldn’t get the wheels in motion in both the games but on a day when he gets going, things can be drastically different. Apart from Iyer, India has a strong top-order in the form of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson. Sharma smashed a 20-ball-50 against Ireland in the series opener and will be hopeful of recreating the same feat, with only better results.

Venue Watch:

The track in the Riverside Ground has offered a decent balance between the bat and the ball. The bounce and the carry on the surface are fairly true and seamers always have a nod on this track. Spinners usually come into the game in the second half and there will be subtle drift as well. Batters will have to be watchful about their shots as missteps can be troublesome.

Match detail:

Match: England vs India, 2nd T20I

Venue: Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street

Date: 1st July, 2026

Time: 10:00 PM

Head-to-head:

Matches played: 30

India: 18

England: 10

Squads:

India:

Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma (VC), Ravi Bishnoi, Abhishek Sharma, Suryansh Shedge, Prasidh Krishna, Sanju Samson (WK), Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ishan Kishan (WK), Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Shivam Dube, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

England:

Harry Brook (C), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton (WK), Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler (WK), James Coles, Jordan Cox (WK), Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt (WK), Josh Tongue, Luke Wood