Danielle Wyatt returns to the England T20I squad for the series vs India; replaces Lauren Winfield-Hill

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced the England women’s squad for the upcoming T20I series against India. The announcement saw Danielle Wyatt being picked for the national team for the first time this summer. She will be replacing Lauren Winfield-Hill, who opened the innings with Tammy Beaumont in the one-off Test and the ODI series against India. 

Another big change to the squad was the call-up of Mady Villiers who will be returning to the team in place of Kate Cross. Despite having a good start to the summer, Cross’s dropping off comes based on the fact that she has not played a single T20I since December 2019. Unlike Winfield-Hill, Cross found success against India, taking a five-wicket haul in one of the ODIs. 

Winfield-Hill, on the other hand, was the only specialist batter in the top five who failed to reach a score of fifty during the multi-format series against India. She didn’t look out of shape but failed to convert any of the starts. Wyatt has not been in the best of forms at the international level in the past 18 months. 

The multi-format series between India & England is tied at 6-4

However, no other English batter, be it men’s or women’s has two T20I centuries. On top of that, Wyatt did get some crucial runs in the domestic circuit which could have played a part in her call-up. Cross and Winfield-Hill will go back to their domestic teams and take part in the Charlotte Edwards T20 Cup 2021. 

“We’ve played some good cricket across both the Test and the ODIs and we’ve named a strong squad for the IT20 series. It’s 6-4 in the multi-format series and it’s a series we’re pushing hard to win. We probably weren’t quite at our best in the third ODI so I’d like us to hit the ground running in the first IT20 and be ruthless,” said England head coach Lisa Keightley.

The multi-format series started with a draw in the one-off Test. England won the first two ODIs and thereby claiming the ODI series. However, Mithali Raj’s stellar 75 runs guided India to a win in Worcester in the third ODI. The scoreline is now 6-4 with India right in the series, with a chance to at least tie the series. The first T20I will be played on Friday at Northampton, with the second and the third match to be played at Hove and Chelmsford. 

England squad: Heather Knight, Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson, Danni Wyatt