With the amount of freedom that the Indian T20I team is being offered, captain Suryakumar Yadav said, his side wants to play a “bit differently” from the way they played in the T20 World Cup 2024. The calendar year changed, but India’s threatening approach in the T20Is remained the same. After ending 2024 on a high note, India picked up the momentum and kickstarted T20Is in 2025 with a bang. With ‘Bazball’ taking over white-ball cricket, India’s ‘Gamball’ ensured England’s new era began on a disappointing note. Brendon McCullum watched his side getting blown away by T20 World Cup champions in his first T20I as England’s white-ball head coach.
At Eden Gardens, where dew was always going to have its say, fortunes favoured India as Suryakumar won the toss and decided to put England to bat. The Indian skipper believes the energy after the toss had set the benchmark for the hosts.
“The energy after we won the toss set the benchmark. Bowlers had plans, executed, and the way we batted was icing on the cake,” Suryakumar said in the post-match presentation.
With Mohammed Shami absent from the playing XI, Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya had to take up the responsibility of delivering with the new ball.
Varun Chakravarthy remained a mystery for England in the middle overs as the Indian bowling unit delivered a flawless performance in harmony.
Arshdeep rattled the opening pair with his brace, and Chakravarthy kept it simple with his googly to complete a three-wicket haul, taking the entire momentum away from the visitors.
“We did the same in South Africa. Hardik had the responsibility to bowl the new ball so cushion to play the extra spinner. Varun’s preparations are on point, and Arshdeep is taking the extra responsibility. There’s a lot of freedom given, we want to play a bit differently from what we did in the 2024 T20 World Cup,” he added.
After a staggering bowling display, the stage was set for India’s flamboyant batters to raise the heat in Kolkata. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma didn’t stay quiet for long and went all guns blazing in the powerplay.
While Sanju’s time on the crease was cut short by Jofra Archer, Abhishek (79 from 34 deliveries) produced a fusillade of boundaries to knock England out of contention for victory.
While India stood out with the ball and the bat, the efforts involved in the field didn’t go unnoticed. Clinical catching display with dives intended towards saving a single run showed the amount of hard work the Indian team has put in to improve in this particular spectrum.
“The fielding is one area we’ve been working really hard. Let’s take those half chances and make a difference,” he concluded.
With a 7-wicket win in Eden Gardens, the T20I action will now shift to Chennai, where India will look to extend its hot streak in the format on Saturday.
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