(Cricket news) After the disappointing loss in the Test match, India now gear up for the T20I series. Rahul Dravid, his coaching staff and the other members of the Test squad will not take part in the first T20 but they will be back for the 2nd and 3rd match. This will be a very good preparation for India for the World Cup later this year. Considering what happened in the Test series, India will want to win the T20I and ODI series for bragging rights. England are now under the new leadership of Jos Buttler after the retirement of Eoin Morgan. 

India's ideal playing XI-

Openers: Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan

The opening combination pretty much  picks itself. KL Rahul is injured so Ishan Kishan is making the most of the opportunity. He is the highest ranked Indian batter in the ICC rankings at number 6. He could cement his place in the side with a good performance in this series. Skipper Rohit Sharma is really short of runs recently and he needs to play well if India are to win. Ruturaj Gaekwad, Sanju Samson, Venkatesh Iyer and Rahul Tripathi are the other options

Middle order: Deepak Hooda, Suryakumar Yadav & Dinesh Karthik

Deepak Hooda was the player of the series against Ireland and he deserves a place in the side. Suryakumar Yadav just returned from injury and struggled to get going against Ireland. Before the injury he was India's designated number 4. If he does fail to perform in this match then he might get dropped after the return of Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Sheryas Iyer. Dinesh Karthik will be playing the finishers role in the side and he has done well doing it in the recent past. Karthik's role in the team is very important and his batting position will change according to the situation. Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi and Venkatesh Iyer are the other options.

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya & Axar Patel

Since his international return Hardik Pandya has done well with the bat bit his bowling form needs to improve as that is what gives him the edge over other players in the side. Axar Patel didn't get to bowl a lot of overs in Ireland and it could be a similar situation in England. He likely to get dropped after this game with the return of Ravindra Jadeja. Venkatesh Iyer is the other all-rounder option available.

Seamers: Harshal Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar & Avesh Khan

India stuck with these three seamers against South Africa but did drop Harshal Patel for the first match and Avesh Khan for the second match in favour of Umran Malik. The trio of Bhuvneshwar, Avesh and Harshal is likely to play because Umran was a expensive against Ireland. Jasprit Bumrah will be back for the 2nd T20 to replace one of these bowlers so all three will be looking to put in a good performance to cement their place in the side.

Spinner: Yuzvendra Chahal 

Chahal is likely to be very effective in English conditions. Ravi Bishnoi is the other option while India could also go with 4 pure fast bowlers. Chahal will be a proper wicket taking option in the middle overs. The leggie will definitely be tested by the aggressive English batters.

Bench: Ruturaj Gaekwad, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Venkatesh Iyer, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik
 

Also read: What went wrong for India in the 5th Test against England