India opted to bowl first against England in the first T20 match after winning the toss in Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

In a shocking turn of events, Mohammed Shami, who was expected to bowl in the match for India after a long gap and recovering from injury, could not find a place in the final eleven.

In his absence, Arshdeep Singh will lead the pace attack.

Apart from Axar Patel, the spinning department will be handled by Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakravarthy.

The series assumes significance since it is played just after the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy which India lost to Australia in the away series 3-1, drawing criticisms from fans and experts.

Indian squad:  Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy.

England squad:  P Salt(wk), B Duckett, J Buttler (c), J Bethell, L Livingstone, H Brook, J Overton, G Atkinson, J Archer, A Rashid, M Wood.