Big decision from India to bat first on pitch with plenty of grass and dark clouds above. The last time India chose to bat first after winning the toss outside Asia was against South Africa at Johannesburg in November 2024.

Shreyas Iyer: Second series as captain. Very excited. We got a session of practice here, and we have acclimatised. The mood is absolutely fine. Ireland series is history. We know how England have been playing their cricket. The surface has a decent amount of grass, can't predict. We are going with three spinners, Axar being the allrounder and two pacers.

Harry Brook: Happy to bowl. The mood is good. We are looking to start this series against a solid Indian side. Part of cricket to get ready for a new series. Lots of experienced players in the side. Having the likes of Buttler and Salt and Sam Curran to lean on is great.

India have won the toss and opted to bat at the Riverside Ground. No debut for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.

England (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w), Harry Brook(c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood

India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy

Looking at the pictures from out in the middle, there is no sign of a cap presentation as the Indian players gather in their pre-match huddle. Vice-captain Tilak Varma was seen delivering an intense motivational speech to the group. It is now fair to assume there won't be a debut for teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi tonight-unless the team management decides to pull off a massive surprise at the toss.

Varun Chakravarthy is back in the Indian squad after recovering from a hairline toe fracture. The spinner missed last week's assignments against Ireland in Belfast due to the injury.

Less than a year after making his India comeback, Ishan Kishan has soared to the top of the ICC T20I batting rankings. Talk about turning a corner in style!

Congratulations to Ishan Kishan on topping the charts in the ICC Men's T20I Batting Rankings following his massive impact in #TeamIndia's triumph at the #T20WorldCup 2026 @ishankishan51 pic.twitter.com/qQrGnJNdMF

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 1, 2026

England (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Jos Buttler(w), Harry Brook(c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been at the centre of attention in the lead-up to the series, following his no-show in the Ireland rubber. Several experts, including Sunil Gavaskar, have urged the management to hand the prodigy his debut in the very first game of this five-match series. Whether the Indian team management decides to blood him under these heavy Chester-le-Street skies remains to be seen.

It is currently overcast in Chester-le-Street with just under an hour to go until the toss. India hold the upper hand in the overall head-to-head record with an 18-12 advantage, including a dominant run of six wins in their last seven meetings. The cloud cover is bound to give the pacers plenty to think about-let's just hope the weather gods play ball so we can get a complete game of cricket tonight.

Hello and welcome to NDTV Sports' live coverage of the 1st T20I between England and India. We are broadcasting live from the Riverside Ground in Chester-le-Street, where all eyes are on whether 15-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will make his highly anticipated international debut tonight.