But not all attention will be on Pant as there’s a rival to him for the wicketkeeper batsman’s spot in Jharkhand’s Ishan Kishan, his teammate in the World Cup U-19 side and also an attacking batsman like the Delhi player.
The selectors have named Kishan as wicketkeeper for the game.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane, coming off a long injury-lay off, will play his first game after his rehabilitation and would be eager to hit the straps before the ODI series.
Suresh Raina, who has lost his spot in the ODI team but is a member of the T20 squad, would also be keen to hit the high note.
There are other all-round aspirants like Vijay Shankar, Parvez Rasool and Deepak Hooda, besides experienced batsman Sheldon Jackson in the India A ranks.
The frontline bowling would be handled by senior pacers Vinay Kumar, Ashok Dinda and Pradeep Sangwan, along with left- arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem.
England too would like a game to be given to their main all-rounder Ben Stokes, wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow and speedster Liam Plunkett who were in the reserves yesterday.
Key batsman Joe Root is, however, unlikely to play the game as he is set to join the team only tomorrow and then travel with the others to Pune for the first ODI.
Unlike the opening warm-up tie, the second one is a day match.
(Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy:)
