Why are Jasprit Bumrah & Hardik Pandya not playing ENG vs IND 1st T20I in Chester-le-Street?
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Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya also missed the previous T20I series against Ireland.
The first T20I of the five-match series between India and England is taking place on July 1 at Riverside Ground. Following the T20Is, three ODIs will be played between the two teams.
In the opening game, Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bat first. At the toss, he mentioned that India are aiming for a comeback after the recent series loss against Ireland.
Notably, two crucial members are not part of the ENG vs IND 1st T20I. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya are not part of India’s playing XI. Both senior players also missed the previous T20I series against Ireland.
Why are Pandya & Bumrah absent from the ENG vs IND 1st T20I?
Notably, Hardik Pandya has been suffering from a quadriceps injury. He sustained the injury during his rehabilitation at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) last month.
The all-rounder also missed the ODI series against Afghanistan last month due to the same reason. He will need a few months to recover from the injury and is not part of the ODI series against England either. He was part of the squad earlier but was ruled out after sustaining the injury.
On the other hand, Bumrah has been rested for the T20Is against England but will be part of the ODI series. BCCI has clarified that Bumrah’s focus will be the 50-over format, as he will be a crucial pacer for India in the ODI World Cup 2027.
Both Pandya and Bumrah last played in IPL 2026, representing the Mumbai Indians (MI). Both stars failed to perform well in the tournament.
Meanwhile, about his decision to bat first, Iyer said at the toss, “We are going with bat first. Ireland is history. It’s a new series, five games, everything to play for. Certainly, this is a great opportunity for us. This is my first, second actually, second series as a captain. So, pretty much excited. We got what we wanted. We got a session of practice over here yesterday, pretty much acclimatized to the surrounding as well. So, looking forward for an exciting one”.
India’s playing XI vs ENG in 1st T20I: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy.
Why is Jasprit Bumrah not part of the ENG vs IND 1st T20I?
Bumrah is not part of India’s T20I squad vs England. He has been rested for the campaign to manage his workload and will play in the ODI series.
Why is Hardik Pandya not part of the ENG vs IND 1st T20I?
Pandya is recovering from a quadriceps injury and is not part of the ENG vs IND T20I series.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.