INDIA’S STAR HITTERS PILE ON THE POWER

INDIA dished out the most emphatic of thrashings in the first T20 international against England – and are now bringing their big guns to the party.

Never mind that Arshdeep Singh enjoyed an eye-catching debut in Southampton on Thursday night, the likes of Test stars Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, and Rishabh Pant (above) now join in the white-ball fun.

These players are the mainstays of Indian cricket across all formats and they are ready to exact revenge after England clobbered them by seven wickets in their one-off Test.

But while Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root will not be appearing until the three-match ODI series begins, which could put England at a disadvantage, new captain Jos Buttler still has enough firepower.

And England’s T20 stars are still confident they can overturn their 1-0 deficit and hit back at Edgbaston today and Trent Bridge tomorrow with the players they have.

“Of course India being able to bring those players back presents another challenge for us,” admitted England all-rounder Sam Curran (above). “But we have got quality players too so we have got to make sure it is one-all going to Sunday.

“We will speak about the players we’ll be facing, but we are looking to come back stronger after the disappointment of Thursday.

“They played really well. It is a quick turnaround and we’ll need to improve in some areas, but we are more than capable.”

Curran will be expecting more from himself, especially with the bat after returning to international cricket this summer following a winter on the sidelines with a stress fracture. As an all-format player he is still building up his workload so that he can become another aggressive option for some ‘Bazball’ in the Test team, something he can’t wait to be a part of.

“The way the Test team has played the last four games has been incredible to watch,” he added. “It looks like they have such confidence and I’d love to be a part of that.”