| Venues: Ageas Bowl, Edgbaston & Trent Bridge Dates: 7, 9 & 10 July Times: 1st T20 at 18:00 BST, 2nd & 3rd T20s at 14:30 |
| Coverage: Test Match Special commentary, text commentary and in-play highlights on BBC Sport website and app. Highlights of 1st & 3rd T20 on BBC Two & iPlayer. The 2nd T20 is live on BBC Two & iPlayer from 14:00 on 9 July |
New white-ball captain Jos Buttler says England will continue to be “really aggressive and not afraid of failure” under his leadership.
Former vice-captain Buttler, 31, took over from Eoin Morgan last week after the 50-over World Cup-winning skipper retired from international cricket.
His first series in charge is three Twenty20 internationals against India, starting at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday.
“There’s not much at the moment needs changing,” Buttler told BBC Sport.
“I see the game in exactly the same way as Eoin.”
Buttler will work alongside newly-appointed Australian head coach Matthew Mott, with the pair looking to build a side capable of winning this year’s T20 World Cup in Australia and defending the 50-over World Cup in India in October 2023.
England were beaten by New Zealand in the semi-finals of last year’s T20 World Cup, which was won by Australia.
“I want us to play in exactly the same fashion – to be really positive, really aggressive and not afraid of failure,” added wicketkeeper Buttler.
“There’s a clear identity that is going to outlast Eoin, to outlast me and will outlast whoever follows on from me as well.
“I don’t see that ever going backwards, I see some people just trying to take that even further forwards.”
After a dismal 2015 World Cup, England adopted an aggressive approach under Morgan that led them to the 2019 title and breaking the one-day international record total three times, most recently in hitting 498-6 against the Netherlands last month.
That positivity has now been taken on by the Test team under new captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum, resulting in four successive victories by chasing totals over 275, including England’s record pursuit of 378 to beat India on Tuesday.
Buttler, who was dropped from the Test side after a poor Ashes series in Australia, said Stokes’ team have been “a hell of a lot of fun” to watch, but added he is focused on the limited-overs sides.
“It sounds like they’ve reminded themselves about just what an honour and privilege it is and how much fun they can have playing cricket, and not worrying too much about the results,” he said.
“And actually the results have come by doing that.
“If anything it’s just a reminder for the white-ball teams that that’s exactly the way we want to play cricket as well.”
After India, England also have series against South Africa, Pakistan and Australia to hone their starting XI for their T20 World Cup opener against Afghanistan on 22 October.
None of the Test squad will feature against India, with the schedule also meaning England will not always be able to field a first-choice side in the build-up to the tournament.
“Expectations are high for us as a group and the T20 World Cup is not far away, so we want to build towards that,” said Buttler
“Through availability in the schedule and a few injuries there’s going to be chances for players to put their hand up, which is exciting because that develops the strength of the squad.”
India Test players Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja will be available from the second T20 onwards, while captain Rohit Sharma is set to return after Covid-19 meant he missed the Edgbaston Test.
Buttler said he is expecting a “really tough challenge” from India as there is “so much strength in depth and talent” in their squad.
He added: “They’re well accustomed to playing lots of T20 cricket, they know the format very well. I expect a great series.”
Rohit said he was “struggling” for a couple of days because of Covid but is “excited” for the T20 series now he is healthy again.
“We want to keep one eye on the T20 World Cup but we also want to get the job done here as well,” he added.
“England are going to be a very challenging team for us.”
Schedule
July
7 1st T20, Ageas Bowl (d/n) (18:00 BST)
9 2nd T20, Edgbaston (14:30)
10 3rd T20, Trent Bridge (14:30)
England squad for T20 series: Jos Buttler (capt, 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 for first T20: Rohit Sharma (capt), 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.
