England are backing Ben Duckett to be their opener for all formats as the busy left-hander will accompany Phil Salt at the top of the order for Wednesday’s first T20 against India.

Duckett has been England’s tone-setter in Tests for the past couple of years and nailed down a spot in the ODI side with a series of eye-catching displays against Australia at the back end of last summer.

While he has a dozen T20 caps, Duckett has not opened in the format for England since his debut in 2019 but a vacancy has arisen with Jos Buttler staying at No 3 and Will Jacks out of the squad.

With Buttler deciding to continue pulling the strings in the outfield after doing so against the West Indies before Christmas, Salt has edged out Jamie Smith for the wicketkeeper’s spot for England’s first T20 at Eden Gardens since
their agonising defeat in the 2016 World Twenty20 final.

It also officially marks the start of the Brendon McCullum tenure as England’s head coach in all formats, with the New Zealander looking to bring his philosophy – dubbed ‘Bazball’ – to improve their ailing limited-overs sides.

England will take the attack to India with four genuine quicks in Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Jamie Overton and Gus Atkinson, while Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell will supplement front-line spinner Adil Rashid.

Harry Brook will act as Buttler’s deputy, having led England in a 3-2 ODI series defeat by Australia last year.

England team to face India: 1. Ben Duckett, 2. Phil Salt (WK), 3. Jos Buttler (c), 4. Harry Brook, 5. Liam Livingstone, 6. Jacob Bethell, 7. Jamie Overton, 8. Gus Atkinson, 9. Jofra Archer, 10. Adil Rashid, 11. Mark Wood.

Buttler praises Duckett’s T20 potential

Duckett may lack explosiveness but shows intent through his canny 360-degree strokeplay and proficiency on the sweep, with the left-hander potentially England’s answer to Australia’s David Warner going forward.

“I think he’s been playing brilliantly well in all formats of the game,” Buttler said of Duckett. “You look at someone in England cricket now who could open the innings in every format of the game, it’s credit to the way he’s played over the last few years and he fully deserves his chance.

“He’s got an excellent reputation against spin but he has even more options in the powerplay. With only two fielders out, he’s an incredibly tough guy to defend against with all the different areas that he can hit the ball. I think it’s something that’s going to really suit his game and we’re all really excited for it.”

On Brook taking on the role of vice-captain, Buttler added: “He’s got all the attributes you need to be be a captain. He’s someone I will lean on for advice on the field and get his point of view.

“Certainly the way Harry plays his cricket, watching him from the side captain against Australia, he was as positive a captain as I’ve ever seen. We want to be really watchable, really exciting and be an aggressive team that wants to take the game on.”

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