(BBC) Stand-in captain Eoin Morgan is backing his inexperienced England Twenty20 side to follow the Test team’s lead by upstaging India on their own turf.
Morgan will lead England in a two-match series starting in Pune today.
“We are going in as underdogs which is a great label to have with such a young side,” Morgan told BBC Sport.
“I personally would back every one of them. In this cauldron that is India it’s tough conditions, but it would be great to win these two games.”
Morgan is captaining England’s Twenty20 side in the absence of the injured Stuart Broad.
With regulars Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann and Steven Finn all rested after their exploits in the 2-1 Test series win, England’s 15-man squad features seven players under the age of 24.
India, in contrast, only have three players under 24 in a strong squad featuring Twenty20 veterans such as Mahendra Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina.
Morgan, however is confident his team won’t be overawed. He said: “It would be quite an achievement (to win the series) and the expectation on the guys is quite low.
“But a lot of our guys have been involved in the Champions League and played in front of the big crowds.
“Twenty20 is one of those formats where, at any stage during the game, you will be given a moment to stamp your authority. If some of the boys can do that, we will be in with a chance.”
Morgan said he had taken advice from Broad and Test and one-day skipper Alastair Cook about captaincy.
“I’ve spoken to both of them and I’ve had great advice,” said the Dubliner. “Most of them will be natural because things happen quickly in Twenty20 and we will have most of our tactics sorted pretty much before the game starts.”
India captain Dhoni said his team’s first home Test series defeat since 2004 would have no bearing on the Twenty20 series, which concludes in Mumbai on Saturday.
“It’s a completely different format, so I don’t think there’s any point carrying anything from the Test series into this,” he said. “You have to start from scratch every time.”
India Twenty20 squad: Mahendra Dhoni (capt & wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Parvinder Awana, Piyush Chawla, Ashok Dinda, Gautam Gambhir, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh.
England Twenty20 squad: Jonny Bairstow (wk), Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, James Harris, Michael Lumb, Stuart Meaker, Eoin Morgan (capt), Samit Patel, Joe Root, James Tredwell, Luke Wright.
