Kolkata (West Bengal) :
India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav had a hilarious reply in store when he was quizzed about the defending champions’ plans for next year’s T20 World Cup ahead of the five-match series against England. With the T20 World Cup just a year away, the five-match series against England will serve as the ideal preparation ground for the Indian team. On Monday, Suryakumar’s deputy, Axar Patel, revealed that the Indian team would evaluate and try out its options while keeping the tournament in mind right from the England series. “World Cup is coming up in a year, so how we approach leading up to that, we want to try it from now itself. That’s the main target. Momentum is a big thing because if you start well, you can carry it. We finished 2024 well, so we want to carry the momentum into this series too,” Axar told reporters.
But the Indian skipper wants to enjoy the road that leads to the marquee event and prepare the team on the route before defending the title on home soil.
“Sare secret bata du kya idhar hi (Should I reveal all secrets here). I want to enjoy the journey. We have to prepare the team, decide the position and play most games as a group. This is what me and Gauti bhai, (head coach Gautam Gambhir) focus on,” Suyrakumar said in the pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
The five-match affair will begin on Wednesday at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. The second and third matches will be held on January 25 and 28 in Chennai and Rajkot, respectively. The fourth game of the series will be played on January 31 in Pune. Mumbai will host the final match of the T20I series on February 2.
India’s squad for the T20I series against England: 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).
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