IND vs ENG 1st T20: India opt to bat first at toss, Arshdeep Singh makes international debut

Source: Twitter

IND vs ENG 1st T20 Toss News: Rohit Sharma won the toss on return to captaincy and opted to bat first vs England in the first T20I. He informed that young Punjab Kings pacer Arshdeep Singh will make his debut tonight. He becomes 99th player for India in T20Is. 

Rohit Sharma said at the toss: "We are gonna bat first. Looks like a good wicket. Good pitch, sun is out, better to bat first. Recovered pretty well, had a couple of hits before getting into this game. We know the scheduling, we got to have the understanding. We are making him (Arshdeep) play, the other guys will have their chance. Arshdeep has done well in the IPL, looks an exciting prospect."

"Eoin has left the team in a great place The Test team has been fantastic to watch. Hopefully we can ride that momentum. Gleeson, Willey and Salt miss out We have a couple of all-rounders," said Jos Buttler at the toss. 

#TeamIndia Playing XI for the 1st T20I.

Live - https://t.co/Xq3B0KTRD1 #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/vTS7aINk3l— BCCI (@BCCI) July 7, 2022

Not to forget, India's squad for 1st T20 vs England is different than the next two T20s. The squad that played vs Ireland is the same for 1st T20 vs England. Rohit Sharma, the captain, is the only addition. Virat Kohli, Risabh Pant and others will return to the squad from 2nd T20. This is India's first-ever T20 match at Southamton. The average 1st innings total here is 168.  India are on a 12-match winning streak in T20s. In 19 matches they have played against each other, India have emerged victorious 10 times while England have won 9 games.  

Also, Rohit needs 13 more runs to complete 1,000 T20I runs. 

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan, Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik(w), Axar Patel, Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jos Buttler(w/c), Dawid Malan, Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Reece Topley, Matthew Parkinson