Blackpool's Richard Gleeson stars on England T20 debut against India

India took an unassailable 2-0 series lead as England subsided to 121 all out after the tourists had earlier posted 170-8.

Chris Jordan took 4-27, his best figures in a T20 international since March 2019, but it was Blackpool-born Gleeson who was particularly striking in the field.

The 34-year-old Lancashire pace bowler dismissed India captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant within the space of four balls in finishing with 3-15.

Having recovered from back injuries, Gleeson signed a T20-only deal with Lancashire for 2022 but claimed the most wickets by an England-qualified bowler in the Vitality Blast group stages to earn international selection.

“It wasn’t me contemplating retirement,” he said. “It’s something that would have been forced upon me.

“(The recovery) was a long, slow process. Unfortunately, because of my age, it takes a little bit longer to heal from things like that.

“This wasn’t even anywhere near my radar. So to get the nod first of all, and then to actually go and perform as well, even better.”

Though Gleeson is out of contract at Lancashire in the next few days, he is optimistic of a new deal and was recently snapped up by Manchester Originals in the wildcard draft ahead of the second edition of The Hundred.

“You’ve just got to stick with what you do,” he said. “There’s no point in coming in and trying something completely different.

“That’s what I’ve been picked for. That’s what I’ve been told to go out and do, so to execute is always great.”

Injuries to other bowlers means Gleeson may well be in the frame for the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

While he relished that prospect, he refused to look too far ahead.

He added: “You want to play in the big occasions, don’t you? So, yeah, why not? I’ll just look towards the next game and go from that, I think.

“(England selection) wasn’t on my radar. It was just to play the highest standard that I could. I just want to keep playing cricket and enjoying it, and playing for as long as I can.

“Who knows? If I keep performing, anything could happen.”