Dinesh Karthik to lead the Indian team in T20s in England

The fifth and final Test match between India and England is underway with the visitors struggling at 53/2 at lunch on Day 1. Apart from the rescheduled tests, India will also play three ODIs and three T20Is on this tour. The test match will be followed by three T20Is and the tour will end with three ODIs.

The squad for the white-ball series has been announced by the BCCI. The squad consists of most of the players that played in South Africa and Ireland. However, before the start of the white ball series, India are scheduled to play two warm-up matches against Derbyshire on June 1 and against Northamptonshire on June 3.

Rishabh Pant led India against South Africa. Hardik Pandya led against Ireland while Jasprit Bumrah is leading India in the ongoing Test match. But for the two warm-up T20s, the leadership role has been given to the veteran wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik. 

This surprise decision came on Friday and it will be a huge opportunity for Karthik to make his mark as he is trying to cement his place in the team in T20. So, if he can lead the team while also performing well individually, his chances will improve significantly.

On the other hand, Bumrah became the 36th player to captain the Indian side at international level. He also became only the second pacer in the history of Indian cricket to lead the team after the World Cup-winning captain, Kapil Dev.

Five different players have captained India in the last eight Test matches. The regular skipper, Rohit Sharma, was ruled out after testing positive on Saturday. The vice-captain, KL Rahul, was already out of the tour because of his injury.

The first T20I match will start on Thursday July 7 at The Rose Bowl, Southampton, while the ODI series will start on Tuesday, July 12 at Kennington Oval, London. It will be a three-week long tour that will end on Sunday, July 17.