Ace Indian seamer Mohammed Shami is set to make his comeback to international cricket after a 14-month hiatus. He was named in India’s squad for the five-match T20I series against England. The 34-year-old last played for India in the 2023 ODI World Cup final against Australia on November 19 in Ahmedabad.

Shami had been sidelined due to an ankle injury that required surgery in the UK, followed by a prolonged rehabilitation process. Complications, including swelling in his knee, kept him out of action during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, where Jasprit Bumrah carried the pace attack.

The 15-member team for the series, starting January 22 in Kolkata, will be led by Suryakumar Yadav. Shami’s selection aligns with India’s plans for the upcoming Champions Trophy, with the pacer expected to manage his workload and not feature in all five games.

Changes to the squad include Nitish Kumar Reddy replacing Ramandeep Singh, while Harshit Rana and Shami take the spots of Avesh Khan and Yash Dayal.

Wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma was dropped with Dhruv Jurel making the cut. All the players who were picked for the Bangladesh home rubber and South Africa away series have been dropped because the top T20 stars were back then busy with the red-ball season.

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The four spinners in the squad are Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Varun Chakravarthy and Washington Sundar.

Incidentally, Shubman Gill, who was made the vice-captain after the last T20 World Cup, hasn’t found a place in the team.

Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the innings followed by Tilak Varma and skipper Surya.

Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh are expected to bat at No. 5 five and No. 6, respectively, and they will be followed by Axar in the batting order.

The two pacers for the first couple of games will be Arshdeep Singh and Shami, with Pandya as the third seamer. The two wrist spinners — Chakravarthy and Bishnoi — will come into the equation to complete the expected playing XI.

The T20I series against England starts with the first T20I in Kolkata on January 22, followed by matches in Chennai (Jan 25), Rajkot (Jan 28), Pune (Jan 31) and Mumbai (Feb 2).

India and England will then face off in a three-match ODI series from February 6.