In-form all-rounder Liam Livingstone into a full-strength 16-man squad for the three-match T20 series, which will get underway in Ahmedabad from March 12. Hard-hitting wicketkeeper batsman Jos Buttler will be back in the side after missing the last three Tests of the ongoing four-match Test series.
The team will depart for India on February 26, with the first match scheduled on March 12. “The touring party depart on Friday 26 February and will play five IT20s in Ahmedabad. The squad for the three One-Day Internationals that follow the IT20 series will be announced in due course,” the England Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement on their website.
Livingstone, the 27-year-old opening batsman from Lancashire, was part of England’s ODI squad on their recent tour of South Africa and now makes the cut for the T20I side after impressive performances for Perth Scorchers in the latest edition of Big Bash League. He last played a T20I for England in June 2017.
England have named two reserve players in Jake Ball and Matt Parkinson who will serve as backups should a pacer or a spinner get injured or sick.
England also sent a full-strength squad to South Africa earlier this year in a bid to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup in India.
England will play India in five T20Is in March, with all the games taking place at the new Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. England will then travel to Pune for three ODIs but the squad for that will be announced later.
Squad: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood.
