Watch cricket video highlights of England tour of India 2025. First Twenty/20 between India and England. Venue of the match will be Eden Gardens.
Copyright – Third Party Reference Inline Linking Embedded Video from BCCI
Report
Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and chose to give his bowlers the first try on a “sticky” Kolkata wicket, where dew is predicted to play a significant role in the second innings. As a result, India will chase in the opening Twenty20 International match against England. On Tuesday, Jos Buttler, who would have also decided to bowl first, revealed England’s fast-paced lineup. However, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, and Ravi Bishnoi—the new vice-captain—are three spinners in Suryakumar’s XI.
With his left-arm orthodox, Abhishek Sharma also provides a slow-bowling alternative. After recuperating from ankle surgery and a knee injury that has prevented him from playing for his country since 2023’s loss to Australia in the ODI World Cup final, Mohammed Shami will have to wait to play again. The targeted pace options are all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy, along with Arshdeep Singh.
With the hosts playing their first white ball encounter as England’s all-encompassing head coach, the first of five Twenty20 Internationals has a somewhat transitional vibe. Since winning the T20 World Cup last year, which resulted in a few high-profile retirements, India has advanced farther in theirs, defeating South Africa, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Gautam Gambhir will be hoping for some familiar comforts on his maiden visit to Eden Gardens as national head coach, as the aftermath from a poor Test tour of Australia is still being felt.
Having won the last four series, both at home and away, India has not lost a bilateral T20I series at home in the previous six years, which goes hand in hand with their overall supremacy against England in this format. Their most recent encounter took place in the World Cup semifinals last year, where India easily won by 68 runs en route to winning the championship. Since the devastating World T20 final in 2016, where Carlos Brathwaite hit four straight sixes off Ben Stokes to lead the West Indies to a thrilling victory.
This is England’s first Twenty20 International in Kolkata. Abhishek Sharma’s 79 off just 34 deliveries helped India ruthlessly defeat England in the opening Twenty20 International at Eden Gardens, consuming a pitiful goal of 133 with 43 balls remaining. The hosts’ successful all-around effort was finished off by Abhishek’s third fifty-plus score in the format. The visitors were dismissed for 132 after Arshdeep Singh’s 2 for 17 up top and Varun Chakravarthy’s 3 for 23 in the middle destroyed their hopes of giving Brendon McCullum’s debut game as manager the offensive vigour he so desperately wants.
However, things might have gone worse for Jos Buttler, who scored 68, his 26th T20I fifty. The 34-year-old had lost a vital toss against Suryakumar Yadav to start the evening. Moisture permeated the air throughout the 7 p.m. start in Kolkata, and dew played a role as early as the first innings. Only one of the two captains was given the opportunity to bowl. Arshdeep took full advantage of the early circumstances, dismissing openers Ben Duckett and Phil Salt in his first 11 deliveries.
With those dismissals, the left-arm seamer surpassed Yuzvendra Chahal as India’s most wicket-taker in T20Is, reaching 97. Harry Brook was the only batter to reach double digits before Jofra Archer came in with 12 from No. 9, and Buttler had contributed 68 of the 109 on the board by the time he left in the 17th over. Varun’s googlies stopped the reconstruction, and Brook’s 17 was part of a 48-run stand with skipper and vice-captain Buttler. To reduce that to rubble, the 33-year-old bowled Liam Livingstone and Brook in three deliveries.
Buttler, holing out to deep square leg, was his third. The chase’s meager danger was limited until the fifth over, when Archer got rid of both of them. After doing the early running, Sanju Samson and Surayakumar were dismissed for a duck in four deliveries. With 2 for 21, Archer was easily the best bowler for England after opening the innings and bowling his next four overs in a row. That just placed the burden on Abhishek, who was defeated on 29 off 16 by Adil Rashid. Four balls later, the left-hander would reach his half-century.
India had almost taken a 1-0 lead in this five-match series, but Rashid would ultimately get his man. It was confirmed by a top-edged four from Tilak Varma off a bouncer from Mark Wood off the last delivery of the 13th over.
