ENG vs IND | Dinesh Karthik to lead India in T20 warm-ups against Derbyshire and Northamptonshire

The captaincy role in Indian cricket across different formats has changed quite a few hands in recent weeks. 

As per the latest reports, wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik will lead the side in their T20 warm-up games against English County sides Derbyshire and Northamptonshire.

Karthik replaces Hardik Pandya, who captained the limited-overs side to complete a clean sweep over Ireland in their 2-T20I series in Dublin earlier this week.

The first warm-up will be played against Shan Masood-led Derbyshire on Friday evening at The Incora County Ground, Nottingham Road. The second T20 warm-up will be played on Sunday, June 3 at Wantage Road.

Speaking about playing against India, Pakistan's Masood said: "I know that the Pakistan-India rivalry has a lot of significance, and playing against India is a big moment for Pakistani players. But at the end of the day, this is a cricket game and a big opportunity for me.

"India has an incredible team, and they are currently touring with separate red-ball and white-ball teams, so they have a lot of talent and many world-class players".

Derbyshire have named a strong 16-member squad that includes internationals like Masood, Australia's Hilton Cartwright and South Africa-born Wayne Madsen.

While India have picked up back-to-back wins, Derbyshire have won six out of their last seven white-ball games.

Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah became India’s 36th Test captain and the first fast-bowler after Kapil Dev to lead the side when he took the field against England at Edgbaston in the one-off game.

Post Virat Kohli’s captaincy stint, India have seen as many as five skippers lead the national side across formats: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and now Bumrah.

At the time of publishing this report, lunch was taken on Day 1 after the rain stopped play in Birmingham after 20.1 overs, with India on 53 for 2, losing both openers Shubman Gill (17) and Cheteshwar Pujara (13), to James Anderson.

Ben Stokes won the toss and asked the visiting side to bat under overcast conditions.

Designated captain Rohit Sharma, who missed out on the Test against England, has been named as the skipper for all three T20Is, which will see India field two separate teams.