England in India 2024/25, IND vs ENG 1st T20I Match Preview

Big picture: Keep changing

Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum have many things in common. They were both star openers, they were both captain and coach of Kolkata Knight Riders at different times, they are both known for their “aggressive” mindset when it comes to approaching the game from the dugout and now they both find themselves. trying to shepherd teams in transition.

India’s has been easier, at least in this format, with three superstars calling time on their careers with T20 World Cup medals around their necks and others fitting in smoothly during wins against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa. England’s has been more difficult, with one of the most exciting white-ball teams in world cricket struggling in ICC tournaments since their T20 World Cup victory in 2022.

This has meant that McCullum enters the India T20I series as England’s white-ball coach for the first time with ambitions to maximize the team’s unfulfilled potential. And for Gambhir, the aim is to show that the T20I team remains unaffected by the poor Test results that have rocked the establishment.

It is against this backdrop that India and England meet in a five-match series that could test the limits of the shortest format. And as the lines between T20Is and ODIs continue to blur, there will be opportunities for some T20I specialists to stake their claim for future ODI positions – especially after the Champions Trophy ends.

Five potentially delicious T20 batting surfaces await the two sides over the next fortnight and the first salvo in Kolkata will provide a glimpse of what to expect.

Form guide

India WWLWW (Last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
England LWWWW

Spotlight: Bethell and Shami

Very few young people right now have the aura off Jacob Bethell. He made terrific international debuts in all three formats in late 2024. He has had a stint with Melbourne Renegades in the BBL and has an IPL contract with Royal Challengers Bengaluru without playing a single match in India. The left-hander has developed a reputation for slapping spinners for fun, is a handy left-arm spinner himself and is regarded as an electric fielder in the ring and on the boundary line. Could there be a more perfect T20 cricketer in this era? With place as no. 6 for the first T20I against India, Bethell’s stock has never been higher. England see him as one of their future superstars. Now he just has to face the India challenge.

On the other hand, Mohammed Shamiat the age of 34, is making an international comeback after ankle surgery and a knee niggle. He has not played international cricket since India’s loss in the 2023 ODI World Cup final, and despite India trying other fast bowlers in the meantime, there is a sense that Shami remains India’s second-best seamer behind Jasprit Bumrah. India have played by selecting him for next month’s Champions Trophy and the focus in the T20I and ODI against England will be how his body holds up. It is also the perfect way for him to come back, on his home turf of cricket.

Team news: Archer, Wood combine, but what about Bishnoi?

England captain Jos Buttler said he was particularly happy to have all the first-choice T20I players available for this series. They have already named their XI, with Phil Salt taking the gloves and Ben Duckett opening alongside him. Buttler himself will be no. 3, with England also having the blazing pace and fit bodies of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood to attack India. While Wood is the only XI without a century in senior cricket, even he can hit big and that makes England one of the most dangerous batting outfits at the moment.

England: 1 Phil Salt (wk), 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jos Buttler (capt), 4 Harry Brook, 5 Liam Livingstone, 6 Jacob Bethell, 7 Jamie Overton, 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Mark Wood

India have two important decisions to make: how many spinners to play and how deep their batting should look. Arshdeep Singh, Shami and Hardik Pandya should be the seamers while Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel could be the two spin options. That likely leaves India to choose between seam bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar and a straight wrist spinner in Ravi Bishnoi. England are right-handed heavy and struggle against finger spinners, two factors that could determine India’s final selection.

India (probable): 1 Sanju Samson (wk), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Tilak Varma, 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Nitish Kumar Reddy/Washington Sundar/Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.

Pitch and conditions: Plenty of dew and run

Kolkata is going to feature a hard deck with real bounce. The limits are small and the ball in January gets wet very quickly. This means Eden Gardens should be a batting paradise. Suryakumar and Buttler both felt that the conditions would be the same regardless of the toss result, so expect a belt of dew around.

Stats and Trivia: Arshdeep closes in for Chahal

  • Among full members, England have the second worst batting average against fingerspin since the start of 2024: 26.8. Against top sides like Australia, South Africa and India, it drops to 13.88 with a run rate of just 6.74.
  • With 95 wickets in 60 T20Is, Arshdeep is just one wicket short behind Yuzvendra Chahalleading the pack for India in the format. If Arshdeep reaches the milestone of 100 wickets in this five-match series, he will become the fastest bowler to reach it in T20Is. Currently, Haris Rauf is the fastest T20I bowler to the milestone of 100 wickets, having achieved it in 71 matches. Since Arshdeep’s T20I debut, no bowler has also taken more wickets in the powerplay (40) or in the last five overs (46).
  • India has not lost one bilateral T20I series at home for the past six years. Their last defeat was against Australia in February 2019. In the 16 series since, India have won 14 and drawn two.
  • Since the T20 World Cup 2024, India have scored at 9.2 runs per over in the powerplay, an astonishing 10.3 from overs 7-15 and 10.9 in the last five overs. In this period, no team has had a better run rate between overs 7-15 or a better ball-per-boundary ratio (4.7).
  • Archer has the tree above both Suryakumar and Hardik, with both batsmen batting at just 116 against him, while averaging 14.5 and 19 runs respectively.

Quotes

“It’s a really exciting tour to come to India with what I would say is a full line-up for us. Sometimes there’s so much cricket that certain players have to be rested or managed. But that’s certainly not the case for us at all in this series.”
Jos Buttler believes that England has all bases covered

“Eden Gardens is a special feeling because that’s where I played when I started playing regularly.”
Suryakumar Yadavwho first became an IPL regular with Kolkata Knight Riders, wants to make the most of the occasion on Wednesday

Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx