June 29, 2024 - Paltan, surely all of you remember this date. Almost feels like yesterday…

And here we go again! With the T20 World Cup 2026, hosted by India and Sri Lanka, only 13 months away, the preparations for title No. 3 are already underway.

Aapla Surya dada brilliantly led Team India to a 3-1 series win in South Africa in November 2024. A series we fondly remember for Tilak’s Tod Fod en route to his back-to-back centuries. Do din mein century double! 😉

Sanju Samson too added another century to his name while Varun Chakravarthy and Arshdeep Singh bamboozed the Proteas.

With the Men in Blue firing on all cylinders, Jos Buttler’s England arrive to the Indian shores in pretty impressive form themselves.

The Three Lions brushed aside the West Indies in their own home with a 3-1 series victory. Opener Phil Salt and pacer Saqib Mahmood, both present in the touring party to India, headlined England’s dominance two months ago.

The T20 World Cup 2022 champions, however, will face the reigning champions in their home patch, knowing that they have an uphill task ahead.

What: India vs England, five-match T20I series.

When and where:

1st T20I - Wednesday, January 22 (Kolkata)

2nd T20I - Saturday, January 25 (Chennai)

3rd T20I - Tuesday, January 28 (Rajkot)

4th T20I - Friday, January 31 (Pune)

5th T20I - Sunday, February 2 (Mumbai)

What to look forward to: Closely-contested matches, batters hitting all over the park and some cheeky moments!

Despite being away from home, England have always been competitive against India in T20Is in India, winning five of their 11 contests.

… and with the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 to be held in India and Sri Lanka, this is a great opportunity for both teams to lay down a marker while they prepare for the mega event.

India vs England: Stat check

England tour of India 2024 T20I squads

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Axar Patel, Abhishek Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Mohammed Shami, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Hardik Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Rinku Singh, Tilak Varma, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar.

England: Jos Buttler (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Rehan Ahmed, Phil Salt (wicket-keeper), Jamie Smith (wicket-keeper), Mark Wood.