India retains T20 No.1 spot as rain aborts first match vs England

The opening Twenty20 International of a five‑match India‑England series was abandoned after rain halted play, leaving the result as a "no result". India’s innings of 189 runs featured Shreyas Iyer’s 68, Abhishek Sharma’s 59 and Shivam Dubey’s rapid 42 off 21 balls. Because the match did not finish, the ICC T20 rankings were unchanged: India stays on 272 points at the top, while England remains second with 262 points.

England’s fast bowler Saqib Mahmood proved a key threat, delivering 4 overs for 33 runs and claiming three wickets – dismissing Indian batsmen Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma twice each. The duo struggled against his pace, with Varma out for just one run from three balls and Samson dismissed without scoring. The series will continue on 4 July, when the second T20 will be played and could alter the ranking gap between the two sides.