IND vs ENG 2025: Why is Mohammed Shami not playing 1st T20I against England 2025?

Suryakumar Yadav's strategy for the 1st T20I is to bowl first

The first T20I of the five-match series between India and England will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, January 22. Ahead of the white-ball series, India suffered a dismal run in the red-ball format, and Gautam Gambhir & Co. would want to reverse their fortunes.

India captain, Suryakumar Yadav, won the toss and opted to bowl first. He backed his call on the amount of moisture forecasted for later in the game.

Exclusions in India's Playing XI include Mohammed Shami, Harshit Rana and Dhruv Jurel

Contrary to the frenzied build-up ahead of the game, Surya shared that Mohammed Shami, among others, missed out from making the cut. With this, one thing remains certain that the team management is still not convinced with Shami's recovery from the knee surgery despite him featuring for Bengal in the domestic circuit for several games.

"We will look to bowl first. The wicket looks sticky, there will be dew later on. It will be heavier later on. The boys have been amazing. The preparation has been good, looking forward to this series. It's going to be great competition between both the sides. A good headache (to pick the Playing XI), we want to stick to our strengths. The guys missing out today are Mohammed Shami, Harshit Rana, and Dhruv Jurel" he said at the toss.

England's confidence ahead of the 1st T20I as Jos Buttler talks dew and wicket conditions

On the other hand, England's white-ball skipper, Jos Buttler, seemed excited for the challenge too. He admitted to dew playing a role as well.

"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 is in a good spot. It's nice to be together, a lot to look forward to. McCullum taking charge, he has a lot of experience. It's going to be a challenge, we are right up for it. There is some incredible talent in both sides. Saqib Mahmood, Brydon Carse, Jamie Smith, and Rehan Ahmed will miss out," Buttler explained.

Apart from the surprise exclusion of Shami, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel, and Harshit Rana missed out from making the cut for the Men in Blue.

India vs England Playing 11 for 1st T20I

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

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