Picking an all-time India-England playing 11 in T20Is ft. Virat Kohli, Jos Buttler

Team India and England are set to face off in a highly-anticipated five-match T20I series, starting in Kolkata on January 22. While India's recent results in Test cricket have been far from impressive, their T20I form has been sensational.

After winning the 2024 T20 World Cup without losing a single game, the Men in Blue have continued their red-hot run in the shortest format with four consecutive bilateral T20I series victories. England, meanwhile, have been up and down in T20Is, with a drawn series against Australia and a series win against the West Indies, following a semi-final exit in the World Cup last year.

The two teams have been nearly inseparable when it comes to head-to-head meetings in T20Is, with India holding a slim 13-11 edge in 24 clashes.

As we look forward to another potentially thrilling series between the sides, let us pay homage to some of the T20I greats from India and England with a combined all-time playing XI.

Openers - Rohit Sharma (c) & Jos Buttler (wk)

Rohit Sharma holds several important T20I batting records [Credit: Getty]

How often do the last two T20 World Cup winning captains open for an all-time combined playing XI of two teams? Yet, such is the case in this instance, with Rohit Sharma and Jos Buttler taking their rightful place at the top of the order.

Rohit is the all-time leading run-scorer in T20Is with 4,231 runs at an average of 32.05 and a strike rate of 140.89 in 159 outings. His five T20I centuries are the joint-most along with Australia's Glenn Maxwell.

Meanwhile, Buttler is the seventh leading run-scorer in T20I history with 3,389 runs at an average of 35.67 and a strike rate of over 147 in 129 matches.

Rohit and Buttler are also only two out of four players who have scored over 1,000 runs in T20 World Cups. Besides opening the batting, Rohit will also captain the side, while Buttler will keep wickets.

Middle Order - Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav & Kevin Pietersen

Kohli has been the greatest T20 World Cup performer in tournament history [Credit: Getty]

There is no debate when it comes to the No.3 position of any white-ball all-time XI, considering Virat Kohli's inimitable dominance. The champion Indian batter is third in most T20I runs among players, with 4,188 at an incredible average of 48.69 and a strike rate of 137.04 in 125 matches.

Kohli is also the all-time leading run-scorer in T20 World Cup history with 1,292 runs at an average of 58.72 and a strike rate of 128.81 in 35 outings. The veteran batter won the Player of the Tournament in back-to-back T20 World Cups in 2014 and 2016.

Coming in at No.4 is arguably the world's best T20I batter, Suryakumar Yadav. Despite playing only 78 matches, Surya is India's third all-time leading run-scorer in T20Is with 2,570 runs at a remarkable average of 40.79 and a strike rate of 167.86.

The legendary middle-order will also feature the Player of the Tournament from the 2010 T20 World Cup, Kevin Pietersen. The former right-hander helped England win their maiden ICC event with his game-changing performances.

Pietersen predominantly played at a time when T20s hadn't become a force in the sport like it is now. Yet, in his 37 outings, the English batter scored almost 1,200 runs at a stunning average of 37.93 and a strike rate of 141.51.

All-rounders - Hardik Pandya & Axar Patel

Hardik Pandya brought India back from the brink in the 2024 T20 World Cup final [Credit: Getty]

Coming to the all-rounders, it is hard to look past the man who bowled India to T20 World Cup glory in the final last year - Hardik Pandya. The 31-year-old has displayed remarkable consistency with bat and ball in his T20I career.

Hardik is India's sixth leading run-scorer in the format with 1,700 runs at an average of 27.86 and a strike rate of almost 142 and their fourth leading wicket-taker with 89 scalps at an average of 26.62 in 109 matches.

While Hardik will own the pace-bowling all-rounder role, his Indian teammate Axar Patel will perform the all-rounder duty from a spin-bowling perspective. The 31-year-old offered India tremendous flexibility with bat and ball in the 2024 T20 World Cup, thanks to his ability to bowl in the powerplay and bat anywhere in the middle-order.

Axar averages almost 20 with the willow in T20Is at a strike rate of 142.28, while his 65 wickets with the ball have come at an excellent average of 22.64 and an economy of 7.31.

Bowlers - Adil Rashid, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah & Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Rashid has been England's most underrated match-winner in T20Is [Credit: Getty]

England leg-spinner Adil Rashid has been arguably the most underrated white-ball bowler over the past decade. The 36-year-old is their all-time leading wicket-taker in T20Is with 126 scalps at an average of 24.26 and an economy of 7.34 in 119 matches.

Rashid's exemplary control and wicket-taking ability in the middle overs played a massive role in England winning the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia.

It is an all-Indian pace attack that rounds off the combined playing XI with Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Jasprit Bumrah making the cut. Arshdeep has been a revelation in the T20I format over the past two years and was the leading wicket-taker in India's victorious 2024 T20 World Cup campaign.

The left-arm pacer can take wickets upfront and at the death at will, resulting in his career T20I numbers of 95 scalps in 60 outings at an average of 18.10. Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar was perhaps India's first all-time great T20 pacer, spearheading the attack for most of the 2010s.

The 34-year-old is India's third all-time leading wicket-taker with 90 scalps at an average of 23.10 and an economy of under 7 in 87 T20Is.

Jasprit Bumrah, the 2024 T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament, comes in at No.11. Bumrah has been hailed by most pundits and fans as the best T20 bowler in world cricket and his T20I numbers do justice to that claim.

The 31-year-old has picked up 89 wickets in 70 T20Is at an extraordinary average of 17.74 and an even better economy of 6.27.

India-England all-time playing XI in T20Is

Rohit Sharma (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Kevin Pietersen, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Adil Rashid, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah