England are also slated to play three ODIs, following the five T20Is. These three matches will be treated as India’s last-minute preparation before the Champions Trophy starts on February 19. Notably, India haven’t played a single ODI since August last year.

A separate announcement of the T20I squad also brings focus, or at least some of it, to the format that gave India glory barely six months ago. A lot has changed since then. India have remodelled its style under Suryakumar Yadav, arguably one of the best short-format batters in world cricket. Their slam-bang approach brought results at home against Bangladesh and in South Africa. In fact, this is the only format where India has consistently won in the last six months or so.

The side, therefore, is likely to remain the same. Sanju Samson, who scored two centuries while opening the batting in South Africa, is set to continue as the first-choice keeper, with the selectors unlikely to risk Rishabh Pant before the Champions Trophy. The same is true for Yashasvi Jaiswal. As Abhishek Sharma has done well, there is no need to tinker with the opening combination. Jaiswal, too, would require some rest after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy before he gets ready for the England ODIs and the Champions Trophy. Ditto for Shubman Gill.

Tilak Varma, who became the first Indian to hit back-to-back T20I centuries in South Africa, is likely to bat at No.3.

Bumrah, Siraj to be rested

There is no possibility of Jasprit Bumrah, who is battling a back injury anyway, and Mohammed Siraj being considered for the t0Is at the moment. Both seamers played all five tests in Australia. That means Arshdeep Singh is set to lead the pace attack again. Mayank Yadav is yet to regain his fitness, which means the likes of Avesh Khan and Harshit Rana could be considered.

The spin duties will be shared between Varun Chakaravarthy, Rav Bishnoi and Axar Patel. As far as all-rounders are concerned, Hardik Pandya will be the first choice, while T20 World Cup-winning member Shivam Dube is expected to make a comeback. He had missed the South Africa T20Is due to an injury.

Nitish Kumar Reddy, too, will make a comeback in the T20I set-up. He is unlikely to be considered for the Champions Trophy. He had made a name for himself in the Bangladesh T20Is before returning as the find of the Australia tour.

There is no clarity on Riyan Parag’s fitness yet. After making good contributions in Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, Parag missed the South Africa T20Is due to an injury and hasn’t played a single domestic match for Assam this season.