India includes pacer Mohammed Shami in squad for England T20 series after four years

NEW DELHI — After a prolonged absence, fast bowler Mohammed Shami has finally been named in India's Twenty20 squad for the upcoming five-match series against England, marking his return to international cricket.

The series begins on Jan. 22 at Kolkata. The next four games are in Chennai, Rajkot, Pune and Mumbai.

It will be followed by three one-day internationals to prepare for the Champions Trophy next month in Pakistan and, for India, the United Arab Emirates.

Shami last represented his country in the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India and picked up 24 wickets as the hosts finished runners-up to Australia.

The 34-year-old injured an ankle during the tournament and he needed a long recovery. He missed every international in 2024. Shami returned to domestic cricket last October and was monitored closely by the national team's medical staff.

India missed Shami in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where pacer Jasprit Bumrah lacked support as Australia won the home test series 3-1.

Alongside Shami, spin allrounder Axar Patel was named India vice-captain for the first time. Suryakumar Yadav leads the team.

Allrounders Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar as well as pacer Harshit Rana are back in the T20 squad after missing the 3-1 series win in South Africa in November due to their test commitments in Australia.

Star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant continued to miss out on India's T20 plans. He last featured in the 2024 T20 World Cup triumph in the West Indies.

In Pant’s absence, Sanju Samson has been the opening batter and first-choice keeper, scoring three centuries in seven games against Bangladesh and South Africa last year.

India: Suryakumar Yadav , Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel.

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