On 19 January 2021, the BCCI named India's squad for the first two Test matches. They also named
K. S. Bharat,
Abhimanyu Easwaran,
Shahbaz Nadeem,
Rahul Chahar and
Priyank Panchal as standby players, and
Ankit Rajpoot,
Avesh Khan,
Sandeep Warrier,
Krishnappa Gowtham and
Saurabh Kumar as net bowlers. Two days later, the ECB announced England's squad for the first two Test matches, with
James Bracey,
Mason Crane,
Saqib Mahmood,
Matt Parkinson,
Ollie Robinson and
Amar Virdi named as reserve players.
Ollie Pope was not originally named in England's Test squad after sustaining an injury
against Pakistan, but was added to the squad on 3 February 2021, after the England medical team were satisfied he had recovered sufficiently. The following day,
Zak Crawley was ruled out of England's squad for the first two Tests with a wrist sprain. Ahead of the first Test, both
Shahbaz Nadeem and
Rahul Chahar were added to India's squad, after
Axar Patel was ruled out of the match with a knee injury. England's
Jos Buttler was rested for the last three Tests.
Jofra Archer was ruled out of England's squad for the second Test due to an elbow injury. Ahead of the second Test, both Shahbaz Nadeem and Rahul Chahar were withdrawn from India's squad, returning to the reserves. Following the conclusion of the second Test,
Jonny Bairstow and
Mark Wood were added to England's squad for the third Test.
Moeen Ali returned home to England, therefore missing the last two Test matches. On 17 February 2021, the BCCI announced the squad for the last two Test matches, with
Umesh Yadav joining the team and replacing
Shardul Thakur. The BCCI also retained the same five net bowlers, K. S. Bharat and Rahul Chahar as standby players, and released Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shahbaz Nadeem and Priyank Panchal for the
Vijay Hazare Trophy. England's
Sam Curran was originally going to be available for the fourth Test, but was ruled out of the Test match due to the logistical challenges during the pandemic. Ahead of the fourth Test,
Jasprit Bumrah and
Chris Woakes were released from India's and England's squads respectively. On 11 February 2021, England announced their T20I squad with
Jake Ball and
Matt Parkinson being named as reserves.
Danny Briggs,
Tom Helm and
Will Jacks were also named as non-travelling reserves for England's limited-overs fixtures. Rahul Chahar was added to India's T20I squad, after being one of the standby players for the Test series. On 19 March 2021, India named their ODI squad, with
Prasidh Krishna,
Krunal Pandya and
Suryakumar Yadav earning their maiden call-ups. Two days later, England confirmed their ODI squad, with
Jofra Archer being ruled out due to an elbow injury.
Jake Ball,
Chris Jordan and
Dawid Malan remained with the England squad as reserve players.
Shreyas Iyer injured his shoulder in the first ODI match, and was ruled out of India's squad for the remaining two fixtures.
Eoin Morgan was ruled out of final two ODIs, with
Jos Buttler captaining England in Morgan's absence.
Sam Billings was also ruled out of the second ODI with Dawid Malan added to England's squad. ==Test series==