LONDON: Dawid Malan looks set to play in the opening game of England's three match T20 series with India after being called up as cover for the injured Tom Curran on Saturday.
The 30-year-old batsman -- who made a sparkling T20 debut for England with 78 off just 44 balls against South Africa last year -- will step in for the game at Old Trafford on Tuesday if all-rounder Curran fails to recover from a side strain.
In all Malan has played five T20s for England, scoring 250 runs at a rate of 150.6 runs per 100 balls.
An England and Wales Cricket Board spokesperson confirmed Curran is expected to be fit for the second and third matches in the series, in Cardiff on Friday and Bristol on Sunday.
England go into the series boosted by beating old rivals Australia 5-0 in a one-day series, and winning a T20 match against them.
India warmed-up with an easy 2-0 series win over Ireland -- Friday's 143 run rout is the joint second-highest margin of victory in the game's shortest format.
After the T20 series, the teams will meet in three one-day internationals before a five-match Test series.