England vs India: Heather Knight’s form leaves question marks for Charlotte Edwards

It will be a huge call for Edwards to rule out Knight making a record 310th England appearance at Chelmsford for such an important summer.

Hartley said his top three would be Wyatt-Hedge, Capsey and Sciver-Brunt, with Knight in the middle order and Dunkley out.

However, Dunkley is one of the few England batsmen capable of clearing the ropes, which is an area where they lack.

Dunkley has hit 11 sixes and White-Hodge five since the last T20 World Cup in 2024. They are the only batsmen among England’s top seven to hit more than three sixes in that span.

Explosive all-rounders Danny Gibson and Freya Kemp were tasked with scoring more than 10 runs per over when they were in the same position during England’s loss to New Zealand in Canterbury.

In both cases, they fell cheaply trying to score quickly from the first ball due to the pressure of night batting.

The argument for sticking with Knight doesn’t help that his offensive shot percentage drops to 64% in 2026 compared to 75% between 2023 and 2025.

“I don’t think Charlotte Edwards will want to drop one of the all-rounders,” added Hartley.

“He is a huge all-rounder fan and he wants that left-hander in Kempe.”

Former England Test captain Nasser Hussain backed Knight to deliver because of his wealth of experience, but admitted there was room for improvement.

“I support Heather because she has been a world-class player for a long time,” Hussain told Sky Sports.

“You need a guy like Heather Knight under pressure, but she’ll know her last four innings, especially today, to get a run-a-ball 20 after three run-a-ball 20 – you’re better off getting a run-out first ball than getting it.

“He hasn’t played a T20 international for a year. Maybe he’s taking time to get going.

“He’s not as mobile. He’s not someone like Jemimah Rodriguez who is putting away bad balls and looks a lot busier, but he’s been around so long that it’s not the innings you need to chase 180.”