The veteran England pacer, Saqib Mahmood, has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against Ireland and the upcoming trip to New Zealand in October, having sustained a knee injury. The 28-year-old, who featured in the second ODI against South Africa at Lord’s earlier this month, went wicketless in their five-run defeat before taking no part in the ongoing T20I series against the same opponents.

In a statement, the England Cricket Board has revealed that Mahmood would undergo minor knee surgery to get the issue addressed. He missed two years of action with a stress fracture. His place will be taken by the Hampshire seamer, Scott Currie.

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In the recent appearance of Mahmood, he picked up nine wickets at 10.55 during their T20I tour of the Caribbean in November last year, while getting a vital role in the 3-0 ODI series win over the same opponents in June. He was also part of The Hundred 2025 winning campaign of the Oval Invincibles, claiming the final wicket of the edition against the Trent Rockets.

Scott Currie replaces Saqib Mahmood for the upcoming Ireland T20I series

The 24-year-old bowler comes 18 months after he featured in the three 50-over games for Scotland in the World Cricket League Division 2 in Dubai. But the side’s failure to qualify in the winter’s T20 World Cup would appear to have ended his wish to be part of the side of his father’s birth. Currie has picked up 91 wickets in 65 T20s at an economy rate of 8.60.

“There's plenty of experience to be had out there. I've obviously got [the possibility] that you can flip between the two, and if an England cap ever came, then that would be a massive honour. But certainly, the pride of representing Scotland in those three games that I did, taking the field with my brother.” Currie revealed during a recent interaction on ESPNcricinfo.

“Everyone's favorite word at the moment is the schedule, but it's tough with the way the schedule is to find those opportunities. Unfortunately, they didn't qualify for the T20 World Cup coming this winter. But yeah, I do remain in contact with them.” He revealed in the same discussion. The T20I series will begin on September 17at Malahide.

The 28-year-old English pacer Saqib Mahmood has been ruled out of the upcoming Ireland tour, where they will play a three-match T20I series. A Scotland international player has been named as a replacement for Mahmood for the upcoming Ireland tour. 

Mahmood has played 38 international matches for England, while he featured last for the English team during the recent Lord’s ODI against South Africa, where the right-arm pacer ended with wicketless bowling figures. South Africa won that high-scoring game by five runs. 

While Mahmood last played a T20I match for England during the last India tour early this year, he will miss the Ireland tour due to a knee injury. He will undergo minor surgery, which is likely to force him to miss the New Zealand tour in October, where England will play three T20Is and three ODIs. Mahmood previously missed the game multiple times due to stress fractures in the back. 

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Scotland international Scott Currie named in English squad

The 24-year-old bowling all-rounder Scott Currie has earned an England senior team call-up for the forthcoming Ireland tour. While he served for England U19 in the ICC U19 World Cup 2020, where the right-arm pacer took seven wickets in four games, he played three ODIs for Scotland last year and took three wickets for the Scots. While Hampshire just finished as runners-up in the T20 Blast 2025, Currie was the second leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 27 wickets in 17 matches.  

Earlier, Jordan Cox was added to the English squad for the Ireland tour, while all-rounder Sam Curran was added after the release of Matthew Potts. The 21-year-old Jacob Bethell is ready to lead the England team for the first time, as he will become the youngest cricketer to lead the England team in international cricket history. 

Malahide Cricket Club Ground in Dublin will host all three T20Is between Ireland and England on September 17, 19, and 21, respectively. 

England updated T20I squad for 2025 Ireland tour

Jacob Bethell (Captain), Rehan Ahmed, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Luke Wood, Jordan Cox, Scott Currie

Fearless India secured the home T20I series before the last game of the T20I series, as they beat England in the Pune T20I on Friday night and have taken a 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

After England captain Jos Buttler chose to field first at Pune, India scored 181/9 in 20 overs. In reply, England were all out for 166 runs in 19.4 overs, as India won the match by 15 runs.

Saqib Mahmood brought early blows

England got a great start as Saqib Mahmood was playing his first game and took three wickets in his first over as India were down to 12/3. After scoring 12 runs in the first over of Jofra Archer, Sanju Samson (1) and Tilak Varma (0) were dismissed in the first two deliveries of the second over of the innings, and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (0) lost his wicket on the last ball of the over as Mahmood finished the over with a maiden and three wickets. 

In the tough moment, opener Abhishek Sharma and middle-order batter Rinku Singh handled the situation strongly. However, both lost their wickets at crucial moments, as Sharma scored 29 and Singh scored 30 runs. 

While India were struggling at 79/5, Shivam Dube made a great comeback in the T20I side and Hardik Pandya set up a strong partnership. They had an 87-run partnership for the sixth wicket, the largest ever T20I partnership for the fifth or lower wickets against England. 

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Hardik and Dube scored 50s

After a cautious start, Hardik completed his fifty in 27 balls. The right-handed batter scored 53 off 30 balls with the help of four fours and four sixes before Jamie Overton dismissed him. Meanwhile, Dube took 31 balls to complete his half-century. Before he was run out on the final ball of the innings, the left-handed batter scored 53 off 35 balls with the help of seven fours and two sixes. While Dube got a hit on his helmet in the final over of the innings, India used a concussion substitute as Harshit Rana replaced the all-rounder, which has triggered a new controversy. It was Rana's T20I debut, which happened in a dramatic way.

Among the English bowlers, Saqib Mahmood took three wickets (3/35) and Jamie Overton bagged two wickets (2/32).

England were 62/1

In chasing, England got a great start as Phil Salt and Ben Duckett dominated the Indian bowlers. Indian bowlers seemed clueless to restrict Duckett, but on the final ball of the powerplay, Ravi Bishnoi dismissed the left-handed batter for 39 off 19 balls (seven fours and one six), as England scored 62/1. 

Opener Salt (23) and captain Jos Buttler (2) were dismissed quickly as Axar Patel and Bishnoi took the wickets, respectively, and the visitors were battling at 67/3.

Harry Brook's 50 went in vain

England were losing the wickets at regular intervals, while Harry Brook finally found his form despite not getting enough support from the other end. 

Firing Brook (51 off 26 balls; five fours and two sixes) completed his half-century in 25 balls but he threw his wicket on the next ball as Varun Chakravarthy once again won the battle against him.

In the last moment, Jamie Overton battled hard with his big shots. But his questionable no single theory, which was instructed by Adil Rashid, ended England’s last hope. 

Among the Indian bowlers, Ravi Bishnoi (3/28) and concussion-sub Harshit Rana (3/33) bagged three wickets each, and Varun Chakravarthy (2/28) got two wickets. 

While Mumbai will host the last game of the T20I series on Sunday (February 2), India have already secured the T20I series with a lead of 3-1.