SKY and Tilak Varma Travel Together For England T20Is After Champions Trophy Snub
Tilak Verma and Suryakumar Yadav (Source: @CricCrazyJohns/X.com)
Mumbai Indians and Indian cricketers Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav have flown to Kolkata to join the national side for the upcoming T20I series against England, where the latter will be back as the skipper. Both the players will only be a part of the shorter format as neither of them is included in the ODI series nor in the Champions Trophy 2025 squad.
Indian Players Join T20I Setup
Suryakumar Yadav, who has taken charge of the T20I side since the retirement of World Cup-winning skipper Rohit Sharma from the shorter format, has done well with a recent series victory over South Africa by 3-1. As he is popularly called, SKY will only be a part of the 20-over series, considering that the right-hander is not in the scheme of things for one-dayers.
Meanwhile, Tilak, who was fabulous in South Africa with two consecutive hundreds, has also linked up with the squad alongside Suryakumar. Varma, in particular, has done exceptionally well in this format with 280 runs at an unbelievable average of 140 while striking at 198.58 in four innings.
As usual, the duo is expected to light up the series again with opener Sanju Samson, who has also been overlooked for the Champions Trophy. Moreover, the rest of the players will join the squad soon before the series begins.
India and England In Final Showdown Before The Champions Trophy
India and England will engage in a thrilling five-match T20I series beginning on 22nd January in Kolkata, following which they will then go head-to-head in a three-match ODI series to be played from 6th of February.
In the recently announced squad for the Champions Trophy, Jasprit Bumrah's return to the setup after getting rested from the preceding ODIs vs England is a reassuring sign for team's bowling department.