Jos Buttler will begin life as England's white-ball captain with a match against India at The Ageas Bowl in Southampton on Thursday evening.

It is the first of three T20 clashes between the two sides and it comes just days after England's Test side chased down a record-breaking total of 378 at Edgbaston on Monday morning.

Match preview

Having taken over from the departing Eoin Morgan last week, Buttler's ascent to England captain has been one devastating destruction.

A big hitter, Buttler has been handed the reins while in the form of his life, having recently hit an unbeaten 162 off just 70 balls as England set a record total of 498 in a recent ODI against the Netherlands.

Dubbed as the natural heir to Morgan's throne, the truth is the role of captain has come somewhat early for Buttler, with his predecessor unexpectedly stepping down.

The expectation for Buttler as skipper is high, not least because of the standards set by Morgan during his seven-year stint as captain, with the high-water mark for the Dublin-born batsman England's 2019 World Cup win.

Silverware will also be on the agenda for Buttler, with the chance to lead England to another World Cup triumph coming this autumn, when he will take his side to Australia for the T20 World Cup.

Just nine T20 matches separate England from that tournament, with three of them coming in the next four days against India.

Having been humbled in the recent Test defeat to England, India will be keen to enact revenge on their hosts, starting with the first of three T20 internationals on Thursday.

With destructive hitters of their own, India will fancy their chances, especially given the fact that they have already beaten England in a recent T20 series.

Triumphing 3-2 the last time these two convened for a T20 series in India last year, the tourists will be once again looking for the edge this time around, however, they head into the match-ups with work to do on their white-ball game.

Crashing out of the group stage at last year's T20 World Cup, it marked the last tournament for India with Virat Kohli as their white-ball captain.

Post-World Cup, India's form has improved somewhat, as they have notched up two 3-0 series whitewashes against both the West Indies and Sri Lanka in recent weeks.

Rohit Sharma had taken over initially as India's limited-overs captain, but the opening batsman has since been named skipper across all formats.

Having missed the Test due to a positive COVID-19 result, Sharma will return for the T20 series and leads a confident Indian side chasing a famous victory.

For India's opponents England, the matches come in the midst of a continued row between the English Cricket Board and the counties.

With the Vitality T20 Blast knockouts starting this week, the ECB has once again come under criticism for not making international players available to compete.

Up to seven players are expected to miss the quarter-final clash between Surrey and Yorkshire Vikings, while Lancashire Lightning are likely to be without five of their top talents for Friday's last-eight tie with Essex Eagles.

One of those Lancashire absentees being Buttler, who will be eyeing up a memorable evening on the South coast during his debut as England white-ball captain.

Team News

While he may have captained England as a stand-in previously, Thursday will mark the 31-year-old's first as full-time captain.

A star-studded squad sees powerful hitters like Jason Roy, Dawid Malan and Phil Salt occupy spaces high up the order, with Liam Livingstone offering firepower in the middle.

There could be an international debut on home soil for right-handed batsman Harry Brook, who has shone for Yorkshire this summer.

Similarly, Richard Gleeson will also be looking for his first appearance in English colours. The 34-year-old right-arm bowler helped guide Lancashire to a Blast quarter-final and has been rewarded for his efforts with a call-up.

Elsewhere, stalwarts Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Reece Topley and Tymal Mills will all be looking for game time in England's bowling attack.

For India, their squad list looks a little botched, as a number of players have been handed rests for the first T20 against England.

Kolhi, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer will all be missing for the tourists this week.

Part of the planning behind that move is down to the location of the second T20 international, which will take place at Edgbaston, the venue used for the fifth and final Test match.

It will undoubtedly leave the door open for others to impress, with the likes of Hardik Pandya, Rahul Tripathi and Axer Patel likely to be involved.

England squad: Jos Buttler (Captain, wk), Moeen Ali, Harry Brook, Sam Curran, Richard Gleeson, Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Matthew Parkinson, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Reece Topley, David Willey

India squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik

We say: England to win

With India likely to be lacking in quality due to their absentees, England should not have any problems in taking a first-match win.

On a ground that has scored quickly this summer, expect England's big-hitters to blow India's rotated side out of the water on Thursday

body check tags ::

Previews by email