India vs England T20: India win the toss and elect to bat first

Harry Brook and Shreyas Iyer (Pic: BCCI)

India won the toss and elected to bat first in the first T20I against England at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street. This is the first of a five-match series between the two teams.

After winning the toss, the Indian captain, Shreyas Iyer, was happy to bat first. Iyer confirmed that Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was not included in the starting XI and will have to wait for his debut.

"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 acclimatised to the surroundings as well. So, looking forward for an exciting one. [On the mood in the dressing room after the Ireland series] It's absolutely fine. To be honest, as you mentioned, the Ireland series is history. We've got to learn a lot from that series. And coming over here, we know how England has been playing their cricket. [On India's team combination for the opening match] We are going with three spinners, with Axar being an all-rounder, and two seamers." Shreyas Iyer said.

English captain Harry Brook was happy to bowl first. The star batter added that the mood in the camp was good despite their recent loss against New Zealand.

"Would've had a bowl, happy with that result. Looks like a good wicket. [On the challenge of switching from Test cricket to the shortest format and the mood within the England camp] The mood's really good. We're really looking forward to this series starting against a very strong Indian side, and, it's good to be back with the lads. And that's just part of cricket. You've just got to get ready for the next series as quickly as you possibly can, and try and make it as easy as you can for yourself. We are playing Jos Buttler, Salt to open the batting, me three, Bethell four, Livingstone five, Sam Curran six, Jacks seven, Dawson eight, Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, and Luke Wood nine, ten, eleven." Brook said.

Confirmed Playing 11 for both teams:

England (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w), Harry Brook(c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood

India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy