That’s all for today’s blog. Taha Hashim’s report will be on the site shortly and I’ll be back tomorrow morning for the 2nd T20 in the Women’s Ashes. See you then.
The player of the match is Varun Chakaravarthy
I’m used to seeing pitches like this in the IPL. I know they are good for the seamers but there are certain lengths I can bowl where the pitch is helpful. I’m trying to keep it away from the batter’s arc, slightly short of a length.
[On working on his overspin for two years] I realised I cannot beat batsmen through sidespin, I can only do it through bounce. I’d say I’m a 7/10 on that so there’s still more work to do.
Suryakumar Yadav’s verdict
[What pleased you the most?] I think the energy and the way we started in the field set the benchmark and we took it from there. All the bowlers had their plans and the way we batted was the icing on the cake.
[On picking three spinners] We wanted to stick to our strengths. We did the same thing in South Africa. We knew Hardik could take the new ball which gave us the extra cushion, and all three spinners did a wonderful job.
[On Varun Chakaravarthy] He’s keeping things very, very simple. He’s clear in his mind and most importantly his preparation is on point.
[On the batting] There’s a lot of freedom being given and we want to play a little differently to how we did in the 2024 World Cup. I’m very happy the way they’re going.
We’ve been working really hard with our fielding coach. There’s only one demand from him: that we have good energy.
Jos Buttler's reaction
There was a little bit in the wicket early on, we probably didn’t expect that. But if you come through that phase it’s a pretty good pitch and a fast scoring ground.
We weren’t quite capable of enforcing the game we wanted to but we’re better for the run out.
Jofra Archer’s a superstar – he looked threatening and could have had a few more wickets. Mark Wood bowled really fast and it’s exciting to see the two of them operating in tandem.
[Is pace the way forward for England in T20s?] I think so, yeah. We want to be aggressive and watchable – we’re up against a team who are ultra-aggressive.
I’m really enjoying the environment. I’m a big McCullum fan, I always was when he was playing, so it’s great to be working with him.
Abhishek Sharma speaks
I just wanted to express myself. I’d like to give a special mention to the captain and coach for the freedom they have given us. They have told me to play my shots, even if it’s the first ball.
The pitch was sticking a bit, it was two-paced at time. I thought we might have to chase 160-170 but we bowled really well.
I knew they would bowl some short balls so I had a plan [to back away] and executed it very well.
India win by seven wickets with 43 balls to spare
12.5 overs: India 133-3 (Tilak 19, Hardik 3) Mark Wood delays the inevitable with a couple of angry rockets to Hardik Pandya, but Tilak hits the winning runs with a top-edge over Phil Salt’s head. They have given England a record hammering. This, by some distance, is England’s heaviest T20 defeat in terms of balls remaining. The previous record was 33 against Australia in 2017-18.
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12th over: India 127-3 (Tilak 15, Hardik 2) Six to win.
WICKET! India 125-3 (Abhishek c Brook b Rashid 79)
Abhishek dances down to lift Rashid over extra cover and into the crowd. That’s a gorgeous stroke, the most elegant of his eight sixes. He holes out to long off two balls later to end a stunning innings: 79 from 34 balls with five fours and eight sixes.
He hit 69 from the last 28 deliveries. It’s a sign of how astonishingly well he played that Ravi Shastri he was trying to finish the match with one blow. India need eight to win.
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11th over: India 116-2 (Abhishek 71, Tilak 14) This is an astonishing performance from Abhishek Sharma. Atkinson returns after drinks and is hit for six and four from his first two deliveries. Tilak joins in by cuffing a boundary down the ground.
Despite a good end to the over, Atkinson has the grisly figures of 2-0-38-0.
Drinks: India need 33 from 60 balls
10th over: India 100-2 (Abhishek 60, Tilak 9) Liam Livingstone assumes the position. Abhishek belts his first ball inside out for a one-bounce four, though that’s the only boundary from a pretty good over.
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9th over: India 93-2 (Abhishek 54, Tilak 8) Abhishek hooks Overton for six to reach an audacious fifty from only 20 balls. That includes five sixes in the last 14 balls. There’s a bit of fortune when a top-edged pull lands just in front of Archer but, well, a certain Angus Fraser quote comes to mind.
8th over: India 83-2 (Abhishek 45, Tilak 7) Adil Rashid comes into the attack. After beating Abhishek with his first two deliveries, he drops a pretty simple return catch. Rashid’s frustration rapidly escalates when Abhishek hits 16 off the last three balls of the over. He crashes four through the covers, mishits a one-handed six over midwicket and then nails another six over long on. India need 50 from 72 balls.
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7th over: India 67-2 (Abhishek 29, Tilak 7) England decide to bowl Jofra Archer straight through, something that almost certainly wouldn’t have happened before Brendon McCullum took over. It makes sense because he’s bowling well and wickets are England’s only chance of victory.
The tactic almost works when Tilak cuts a short ball just short of Atkinson, running in from deep point. That aside India are happy to see Archer out of the attack; he finishes a fine spell with a lifter that Tilak gloves onto his helmet and not far short of the man in the covers.
Archer ends with figures of 4-0-21-2; that might be his best spell since returning to the side last year. IMAGINE IF HE’S FIT TO PLAY IN THE ASHES.
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6th over: India 63-2 (Abhishek 27, Tilak 5) Have pace, will travel: Mark Wood’s second over has been belted for 18. The first two balls were hit for six by Abhishek, a nonchalant flick over backward square followed by a flat cut over third man. He lashed four more back over Wood’s head, then top edged a hook that plopped safely on the leg side.
That’s the end of the Powerplay. England were 46 for 2 at the same stage and 61 for 2 after seven overs. Then they fell in a heap.
5th over: India 45-2 (Abhishek 10, Tilak 4) Tilak Varma charges his first ball and hacks it over the head of Salt for four. Archer smiles wryly.
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WICKET! India 41-2 (Suryakumar c Salt b Archer 0)
Two wickets in four balls for Jofra Archer. Suryakumar pulls a slower short ball miles in the air, and Archer celebrates even before Phil Salt has taken the catch. It was actually a fairly awkward catch; had Salt dropped it, Jofra’s celebration would have launched a thousand memes.
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WICKET! India 41-1 (Samson c Atkinson b Archer 26)
Jofra Archer gets his reward for a really good spell. Samson was hurried by a 90-mph short ball and pulled it towards deep square, where Atkinson stooped to take a good catch.
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4th over: India 39-0 (Samson 24, Abhishek 10) England turn to Mark Wood, playing his first game since the Old Trafford Test against Sri Lanka in August. It doesn’t take him long to hit top gear: his fifth ball is a 96mph beast that bounces over the stumps and swings past Phil Salt for four byes.
A really good start from Wood. Only one run off the bat, and that came off a thick inside-edge from Samson.
3rd over: India 33-0 (Samson 23, Abhishek 10) The left-handed Abhishek Sharma gets off the mark with a sliced drive for four. He’s beaten twice but then larrups another spectacular six over the off side. India look like they want to get these runs in 10 overs, never mind 20.
Atkinson's first over goes for 22
2nd over: India 23-0 (Samson 23, Abhishek 0) Samson finds life a whole lot easier against Gus Atkinson, smacking his first over for 22. There were four fours – pull, drive, clips through midwicket and backward square – but the best shot was an outrageous slap for six over extra cover. The strokeplay was beautiful, even if Atkinson’s started to his line and length as the over progressed. England are being taken to the cleaners.
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1st over: India 1-0 (Samson 1, Abhishek 0) England need early wickets and have set the field accordingly: slip, leg gully and short leg. Samson gets a light working over during a good first over from Archer, who starts with a couple of full deliveries and then begins to jag the ball back into Samson from short of a length.
Samson takes a single off the last delivery; based on recent form that’s as good as a century. His last five T2oI innings before today were 111, 107, 0, 0, 109*.
Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson walk out to the middle. Jofra Archer will open the bowling.
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India need 133 to win
“Hi, just got back from lunching out at our local fairly posh restaurant (Barbary Duck today, followed by apple & pear souffle) to find England have not been doing as well as they should,” says John Starbuck. “What a disappointment. So it’s down to our fabled fast bowling eh? We’ll see.”
I don’t think you need to be Quasimodo to know who’s going to win this game.
WICKET! England 132 all out (Wood run out 1)
20th over Mark Wood is run out trying to steal a bye off the last ball of the innings. In isolation that was a decent last over for England, with 11 coming from it. The previous 19, alas, were won emphatically by India. Arshdeep Singh set the tone with a masterful new-ball spell; then the spin bowlers befuddled England’s middle order.
At times, for an England fan, it was best watched from behind the sofa, particularly when the brilliant Varun Chakravarthy was bowling. Only Jos Buttler, who pumped a superb 68, looked comfortable. The next highest score was Harry Brook’s 17, and even that was full of false strokes.
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WICKET! England 130-9 (Archer c Suryakumar b Hardik 12)
After hacking a few useful runs, Archer top-edges a short ball straight to the captain Suryakumar Yadav. Two balls remaining.
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19th over: England 121-8 (Archer 4, Rashid 8) Arshdeep Singh, who started this rout with a fabulous new-ball spell. Rashid lifts a spectacular boundary over extra cover, a reminder of his unorthodox creativity with the bat, and then Archer survives an LBW review after being hit well outside off stump by a yorker.
India have bowled and fielded marvellously, sure, but their reviewing has been atrocious.
18th over: England 114-8 (Archer 2, Rashid 3) The consensus among the commentators is that this is a very good batting pitch and that England are muck against spin. Axar Patel, whose first over went for 15, ends with 4-1-22-2. Do call it a comeback.
17th over: England 110-8 (Archer 0, Rashid 1) We did say it wouldn’t be dull. Chakaravarthy ends a delicious spell of legspin with figures of 4-0-23-3.
WICKET! England 109-8 (Buttler c Reddy b Chakravarthy 68)
Atkinson faced 11 consecutive deliveries before his dismissal, a source of increasing frustration for Buttler. He releases some of that frustration by carting Chakaravarthy’s first ball into the crowd at midwicket. But that’s his last scoring stroke. He picks Chakaravarthy up towards deep square, where Reddy charges in and dives forward to take an outstanding low catch.
The umpires send it upstairs to ensure it was a clean catch, and so it was. Buttler goes for a coruscating 68 from 44 balls.
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WICKET! 16th over: England 103-7 (Atkinson st Samson b Patel 2)
Atkinson’s miserable innings of 2 from 13 balls ends when he runs past one and is stumped by a mile. That’s the last ball of the over.
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15th over: England 99-6 (Buttler 62, Atkinson 2) England bat all the way down to 11, but they’ll need to turn it up to 11 to get anywhere near a competitive score. Bishnoi befuddles Atkinson during a very good last over that includes four successive balls. He finishes with figures of 4-0-22-0.
14th over: England 97-6 (Buttler 61, Atkinson 1) Gus Atkinson is the new batter. Since you asked*, the T20 Bannerman is Samoa’s Darius Visser, who scored a whopping 76 per cent of their runs againts Vanuatu last year.
* Nobody asked.
WICKET! England 95-6 (Overton c Reddy b Patel 2)
Jamie Overton doesn’t last long. Four balls, to be precise, before he holes out to Nitish Kumar Reddy running in from long off. India have been far too good for England so far.
13th over: England 94-5 (Buttler 59, Overton 2) Buttler cracks Bishnoi for two boundaries in three balls, both placed beautifully between long-off and the cover sweeper. Buttler is doing a T20 Bannerman; he’s scored 63 per cent of England’s runs.
12th over: England 84-5 (Buttler 50, Overton 1) Earlier in the over Buttler worked Hardik for a single to reach an excellent 34-ball fifty. He’s had to slow down since Chakravarthy’s double strike but there were some spectacular strokes before that.
WICKET! England 83-5 (Bethell c Abhishek b Hardik 7)
Bethell, who almost dragged on earlier in the over, pulls Hardik straight to deep square leg. He made 7 from 14 balls. It was a real struggle, but he’ll be a better player for it.
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11th over: England 80-4 (Buttler 49, Bethell 5) Games like this are so good for Bethell’s education, whether he succeeds or fails. At the moment he’s struggling to time the ball and has 5 from 10 balls after another boundaryless over from Bishnoi. You can never be sure in T20 cricket but it feels India’s score is well below par.
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10th over: England 74-4 (Buttler 47, Bethell 3) Bethell overbalances after being beaten by Chakaravarthy and Samson has the bails off in a flash. India’s appeal is more of a celebration, but Bethell hangs around and it is sent to the third umpire for a stumping referral.
It’s fiendishly close but the third umpire concludes that Bethell has a small part of his foot behind the line. I think that’s the right decision. On commentary, Deep Dasgupta makes the point that Samson was too sharp for his own good; had he taken the bails off a split second later Bethell would have been out.
Bethell plays a couple more false strokes during another fine over from Chakaravarthy. With India well on top, it’s time for drinks.
9th over: England 69-4 (Buttler 44, Bethell 2) Another legspinner, the whippy Ravi Bishnoi, comes into the attack. England have little choice but to regroup, with their last specialist batters at the crease, and there are four singles from the over. Buttler is beaten by a good last delivery.
“Hi again” says Luke Dealtry. “A generational hierarchy for Test match batting could be:
Pan-generational talent (Bradman)
Multi-generational talent (Sachin)
Generational talent (Joe Root)
Mid-generational talent (Ian Bell)
Non-generational talent (Ben Duckett)
I was going to say that’s harsh on Duckett but it’s not really. He’s merely a verygood Test match batsman, one from the bottle, which makes him extremely special in most fields. But not in the Generational Game.
8th over: England 65-4 (Buttler 42, Bethell 0) Chakaravathy doesn’t turn the ball extravagantly, far from it, but his variations are so subtle and he is always threatening the stumps.
WICKET! England 65-4 (Livingstone b Chakaravarthy 0)
Two wickets in three balls! Liam Livingstone is cleaned up by another beautiful googly that zips through the gate to hit leg stump. England are in bother, mainly because of some quite brilliant bowling from Arshdeep and Chakaravarthy.
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WICKET! England 65-3 (Brook b Chakaravarthy 17)
Beautiful bowling! Harry Brook looked uncertain against Chakaravarthy throughout his short innings. He played one lovely shot, a back cut for four, but was cleaned up next ball by a superb googly. That’s an emphatic triumph for Chakaravarthy.
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7th over: England 61-2 (Buttler 42, Brook 13) Axar Patel’s first over disappears for 15. Harry Brook, no longer all over the show, dances down to drive gloriously over extra cover for six. Buttler plays an even better shot later in the over, pulling a length ball over midwicket for six more. He’s playing beautifully and has 42 from 24 balls.
“This England side feels oddly settled,” says Guy Hornsby. “Yes, there’s new kid on the block, Jacob Bethell, and Jamie Overton and Gus Atkinson haven’t played tons of white-ball Internationals, but they’re certainly not new to the England setup. Even in the wider squad, it feels we have a good group to pick from and plenty in reserve. This isn’t to say we won’t be beaten by India at home, but we look stronger on paper against a team much more in transition. You can ping this back at me when we’re out for 97, of course.”
I don’t fancy their chances in this series. Long term, though, we could be in for loads of fun.
6th over: England 46-2 (Buttler 34, Brook 6) Time for spin. First up, the late-blooming legspinner Varun Chakaravarthy.
Brook is all over the show at the start of the innings. He misses a sweep, falls over and is almost bowled round his legs. A hack at the next ball flies past leg stump for four. Buttler then wallops an off drive that is very well stopped at long off.
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5th over: England 38-2 (Buttler 31, Brook 1) Arshdeep is bowling so well that Suryakumar is giving him a third over. Buttler tries to pull and ends up toe-ending a single through the covers. Later in the over he takes a risky single to mid-off and is relieved to see a misfield from SKY.
Brook shapes to pull, realises he’s probably going the way of Phil Salt and aborts the shot. He charges the next ball, has a wild yahoo and doesn’t make contact. Or does he? Arshdeep thinks there was a thin edge and India have reviewed for caught behind.
Erm, it’s a dreadful review; Brook was nowhere near it. That’s the only thing Arshdeep has done wrong in a mighty spell of 3-0-10-2.
“I have no problems with your choice of descriptions of some very fine players – but please, please don’t ever go with the ubiquitous ‘stellar’,” says Brian Withington. “I don’t fully understand my aversion but it is truly visceral. I first heard it used on the BBC Open golf coverage a while back and it jarred horribly then – now it grates like the proverbial nails down a chalkboard.”
Does that mean you can’t partake in menages a trois because of the word association?
4th over: England 35-2 (Buttler 29, Brook 0) Buttler clips Hardik through square leg for successive boundaries. Then he pushes a slower ball just short of the bowler, who collects and throws at the stumps. Buttler has to do the splits to ensure he’s in his crease and then falls over. The throw missed anyway.
England will want Buttler out there for as long as possible because he looks in great touch. He drags a short ball to the midwicket boundary then touches a loose delivery to fine leg for his fourth four of the over. Buttler has 29 from 16 balls.
“The mere mention of pan-generational talent Jasprit Bumrah reminded me of his current status as my very favourite opposition player,” says Tom Hopkins. “I find the man love is never stronger than for someone who you’ll only ever see as a neutral putting the hurt on your team. I was trying to work out my all-time, pan-sport number one in that respect. Virat was high on the list during his duels with Jimmy, going a bit further back Steve Waugh. Hang on, it’s obviously Gheorghe Hagi, isn’t it? Well always have USA ‘94.”
Does Richie Aprile count?
3rd over: England 17-2 (Buttler 12, Brook 0) Harry Brook is beaten by his first ball. Arshdeep is bowling majestically and has figures of 2-0-7-2.
WICKET! England 17-2 (Duckett c Rinku b Arshdeep 4)
Ben Duckett won’t be facing any more balls. He hit one boundary, an audacious reverse flick over short third, but sliced the next delivery – a nice outswinger from Arshdeep – high in the air. Rinku Singh ran back from cover to take a beautifully judged catch.
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2nd over: England 12-1 (Duckett 0, Buttler 11) After seeing that first over, England will be relieved Mohammed Shami isn’t playing. In his absence the new ball is taken by Hardik Pandya. Buttler smacks his second ball down the ground for four and slices the fifth deliberately over backward point for another. A single allows him to keep strike. Ben Duckett hasn’t faced a ball yet.
“Speaking of generational talents,” says Kim Thonger, “how many England Test cricketers in the last 100 years can match what Tuffers has achieved with ball, bat, fag and beer can. OK, not with bat, and not all the time with ball. But still, with fag and beer can, not many.”
1st over: England 3-1 (Duckett 0, Buttler 2) A misfield allows Buttler to get off the mark with a couple. It was bounce that did for Salt but Arsheep got some extravagant sideways movement throughout the over. An outstanding start.
WICKET! England 0-1 (Salt c Samson b Arshdeep 0)
A tremendous start to the Bazball Nights era: Phil Salt has gone for a third-ball duck. He was surprised by some sharp bounce from Arshdeep, got in a horrible position and top-edged the simplest of catches to Sanju Samson. That was a pretty nasty delivery to face early on in any format, never mind when you are looking to attack.
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The left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh, an outstanding bowler in this format, will take the first over.
Phil Salt and Ben Duckett are ready to go. It’s time for episode one of the ECB’s new spin-off, Bazball Nights.
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In other news, India are without multi-generational multi-format talent Jasprit Bumrah because of injury. In fact only four of today’s XI started the T20 World Cup final last year: SKY, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya and Arshdeep Singh. But India’s talent pool is among the deepest in cricket history (I was going to say the deepest and then I remembered the Australia A batting line-up of 1994-95), so don’t go betting the farm on England.
Pre-match reading
Tanya Aldred is a genius. You know it, I know it. This is the latest bit of proof.
“Hi Rob, looking forward to this,” says Luke Dealtry. “Of Luke Littler’s triumph, I think you wrote that he is a “multi-generational talent”. I’ve been wondering if this is mere hyperbole inflation or something worth exploring. Which cricketers are multi-generational as opposed to generational? Perhaps Don Bradman is the only ‘all-generational talent’ in sport. Please expand.”
Look, we live in a world where multiple Goats can apparently co-exist; I’m just trying to survive out there!
As with the phrase “world class”, I don’t really know the precise definition of “generational talent”. How can Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham both be generational talents? Doesn’t that just mean they’re really good?
It might, just might, be a load of pompous nonsense. And by using the phrase “multi-generational talent”, I might be the most pompous eejit of all. I always wanted to be the best in the world at something.
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Team news
The great Mohammed Shami – who hasn’t played for India since the 2023 ODI World Cup final because of injury – was expected to return but he hasn’t maded the cut. England have gone with pace; India have three frontline spinners in Axar Patel, Varun Chakaravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi.
India Abishek, Samson (wk), Tilak, Suryakumar (c), Hardik, Rinku, Reddy, Axar, Bishnoi, Varun, Ashdeep.
England Salt (wk), Duckett, Buttler (c), Brook, Livingstone, Bethell, J Overton, Atkinson, Archer, Rashid, Wood.
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India win the toss and bowl
The Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav says the wicket looks a bit sticky. The dew should help the ball skid on when India bat. Jos Buttler would also have fielded first.
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England named their team early, as is Baz’s wont. It’s seriously exciting – possibly a bit too exciting, because on a bad day that pace attack will go the distance.
Salt (wk), Duckett, Buttler (c), Brook, Livingstone, Bethell, J Overton, Atkinson, Archer, Rashid, Wood.
Taha Hashim's preview
There are so many brilliant young cricket writers and broadcasters around, and Taha is literally sitting at the top table.
India’s T20 squad is radically different to the names selected for the one-dayers, when the more storied names – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah – return. But depth is rarely an issue here and Sharma and Kohli have been replaced with little trouble following their T20 retirements after the World Cup win last year in the Caribbean.
A fresh top three of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma have six T20 international centuries between them in that period. They may even welcome the extra English pace at Eden Gardens, which hosted the highest successful T20 run chase last April, a Jonny Bairstow hundred helping Punjab Kings to score 262 with eight wickets to spare against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.
India have won 13 out of 15 since lifting the trophy in Barbados, done with seven totals north of 200, including a staggering 297 for six in a 133-run win against Bangladesh in October. Those numbers are daunting, surely even for someone as relentlessly optimistic as McCullum.
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Preamble
Buckle up, strap in, choose your own metaphor. Things are about to get lively. Three years ago, Brendon McCullum infused a woebegone England Test team with the spirit of white-ball cricket. Now he’s taking charge of the actual white-ball team. As spin-offs go, this could be anything from Frasier to Baywatch Nights. The only guarantee is that it won’t be dull.
This is the first of eight matches on England’s short tour of India: five T20s, three ODIs. The match begins at 1.30pm GMT, 7pm in Kolkata.
