Dinesh Karthik to lead India in two warm-up games ahead of T20I series against England

India will play two warm-up T20 games on July 1 and July 3, against Derbyshire and Northamptonshire respectively, and Dinesh Karthik is set to lead the Indian team for the two matches. The three-match T20I series against England will begin on July 7 and the three-match ODI series will begin on July 12.

Karthik has previously captained teams such as Tamil Nadu in the Indian domestic circuit, guiding them to two straight finals in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, and Vijay Hazare Trophy last year. He also captained Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and guided them to a play-off finish in 2018. With 15 years and 209 days, he has the third-longest career in T20Is behind Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo.

Karthik is also in great form with the bat, establishing himself as a dependable finisher down the order. After a great IPL season with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), he made a comeback to the India team for the home T20I series against South Africa and the away series against Ireland.

Karthik scored 330 runs in 16 matches with an average of 55 and a strike rate of 183.33 in the IPL this year. He played some useful cameos in the series against South Africa, scoring 92 runs at an average of 46 and a strike rate of 158.62. He is also in the 18-member squad for the first T20I against England in Southampton.

Sanju Samson omitted from the squad for the second and third T20Is against England

In the India squad for the first T20I, Rohit Sharma is expected to lead the team after recovering from illness. Senior players such as Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah did not make the list but will return for the remaining two matches. Deepak Hooda, after having a successful outing in Ireland has got the nod for the T20I series.

Sanju Samson, on the other hand, is in the squad for the first T20I only, despite scoring 77 runs off 42 balls in the previous T20I in Dublin. Rahul Tripathi, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Venkatesh Iyer and Arshdeep Singh are also among the players who have been omitted for the last two T20Is against England.