Gautam Gambhir and Shivam Dube - (Source: AFP)On Wednesday, India kickstarted their T20I series against England as the two teams locked horns for the opening match at the Riverside Stadium in Durham. The Men in Blue are fresh off a series defeat against Ireland, and as expected, Gautam Gambhir and Shreyas Iyer made several changes to the playing XI.Talking about the toss, India won the coin flip and opted to bat first. From the 2nd T20I against Ireland, the Men in Blue have kept Prince Yadav and Suryansh Shedge out of the playing XI. Harshit Rana To Bat Ahead Of Shivam DubeBesides the two changes, the Gautam Gambhir-led India management have also made a few changes to the batting order. Interestingly, the team sheet has gone viral on social media, which lists Harshit Rana at No.6.The fans were sent into a frenzy because the star all-rounder is placed above Shivam Dube and is most likely to bat in that order only. Usually, Harshit bats at No. 8 or No.9, which was also the case during the Ireland series.BCCI @BCCI A look at #TeamIndia's Playing XI for the series opener in Durham 📝 Updates ▶️ Jul 1, 2026, 9:39 PM Why Has Harshit Rana Been Placed At No.6?For the unversed, Harshit Rana was out of action for the past 2-3 months because of a knee injury. However, he made a stunning return in the Ireland series and was India’s only positive in that series.Talking about the numbers, Rana picked up 4 wickets in 2 matches and also scored crucial 29 runs with the bat. Notably, in the 2nd T20I, India were on course for a heavy defeat, but Rana kept the chase alive as he amassed a quickfire 21 (10).Rana’s knock came in a losing cause because India still lost the match by 1 run. However, Rana’s batting prowess is most likely to be utilised by Gautam Gambhir against Ireland, where the KKR star is most likely to be handed a free hand to whack every ball out of the ground.Also Read: Ravi Shastri, Shreyas Iyer Make Massive Blunder At IND vs ENG Toss; Harry Brook LaughsWhy Has Shivam Dube Demoted By Team Management vs England?Shivam Dube is coming off a poor series against Ireland. The all-rounder got the start in both T20Is, but failed to convert them into big scores. Notably, the left-handed batter scored just 45 runs in 2 innings.One reason could be Shivam Dube's form and also to maintain the right-hand, left-hand combination. For the unversed, Axar Patel has been batting ahead of Shivam Dube and India don't want two left-handed batters to bat together in the middle-order.Therefore, Shivam Dube has been asked to bat at No.7. Also, The Men in Blue could be looking at the CSK star as pure finisher and want him to attack the bowlers in the death overs and not succumb to the spinners.Talking about the ongoing match, at the time of writing this article, India are 76/2 after 7.3 overs.Also Read: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's India Debut Denied Again: India vs England 1st T20I Toss Report
.jpg?type=mq "Ravi Shastri, Shreyas Iyer Make Massive Blunder At IND vs ENG Toss; Harry Brook Laughs")
