File photo of India seamer Mohammed Shami.Photo: X/Mohammed Shami File photo of India seamer Mohammed Shami.Photo: X/Mohammed Shami

Mohammed Shami's much-awaited return in India colours is set to take place during the T20I series against England as the pacer was included in the squad for the series announced by the BCCI Men’s Selection Committee late on Saturday. (More Cricket News)

Axar Patel's promotion as the vice captain of the side and the inclusion of wicket-keeper batter Dhruv Jurel were two other major highlights of the 15-man squad.

India squad for the England T20I series

Suryakumar Yadav (C), Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel (vc), Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel (wk).

Shami has been out of international action since November 2023 when he played for India in the Cricket World Cup final against Australia. Following the World Cup where he finished as the highest wicket-taker of the tournament, the pacer underwent an ankle surgery.

His much awaited return to cricketing action took place during the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy where he featured consistently for Bengal. He is also currently playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Bengal.

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BY PTI

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Axar, who was among the captaincy choices for Delhi Capitals ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League season, will be the deputy of Suryakumar Yadav for the England series. The added responsibility on Axar's shoulders comes as a surprising move.

Ammad Butt is leading the Pakistan hockey team with goalkeeper Ishtiag Abdullah Khan. Jungjun Lee is leading the Korean side and Taeseok Min is the coach. Jaehan Kim is their goalkeeper.

Jurel, who impressed in the few Test matches that he played, has been picked for the T20I side now. His inclusion comes at the expense of Vidarbha wicket-keeper batter Jitesh Sharma. Both of them bat in the lower-middle order in the IPL.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rishabh Pant, two names part of the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning squad, have not been included for the series. Apart from Jiteesh, Ramandeep Singh, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Avesh Khan and Yash Dayal have also been dropped from the side.

The five-match T20I series between India and England starts January 22 in Mumbai. The series will be followed by three ODIs after which teams will head for the Champions Trophy.lolliplay