India vs England 1st T20I LIVE SCORE: Chakravarthy dismantles ENG, Buttler's one-man show ends

India vs England 1st T20I LIVE SCORE: England have crumbled with captain Jos Buttler being the only one who has looked settled.

India vs England 1st T20I LIVE SCORE: England captain Jos Buttler reached his 26th fifty off just 34 balls and it has pretty much been a lone hand from him as Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy terrorised the visiting batters. Besides Buttler, only Harry Brook could get into double figures. Suryakumar Yadav is rotating his bowlers brilliantly to prevent England from settling into a free-flowing groove. Hardik Pandya also struck in his third over to send back Jacob Bethell....Read More

Arshdeep Singh picked two wickets in his first two overs and thus went past Yuzvendra Chahal as India's highest ever wicket-taker in T20Is. However, Buttler punished Hardik Pandya in his first two overs. Pandya shared the new ball with Arshdeep with India choosing keep Mohammed Shami out.

Suryakumar Yadav served up a shocker during toss itself, stating that Mohammed Shami is not playing the first T20I against England at the Eden Gardens. Suryakumar won the toss and India are bowling first. After a fairly disappointing winter of Test cricket in which six lost Test matches derailed India’s World Test Championship, the team’s attention turns instead to a different ICC tournament and a different-coloured ball, with the Champions Trophy beginning next month. Ahead of it, however, India’s team will focus on a five-match T20I series against a powerful and dangerous England team. India’s T20 unit were in destructive form in 2024, having a record season as they hardly lost a match all year and capped it off with a memorable win in the T20 World Cup as well.

The team, now led by Suryakumar Yadav, will want that streak of form to keep going as this new-look side continues to try and establish itself at the top of the format. Their campaign begins with a match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, up against an England side packed with power and themselves looking to get back to winning ways in T20 cricket, finding themselves in a similar state of transition to an Indian team post-Rohit/Virat.

For India, much of the focus will be on a potential return for Mohammed Shami to international action, returning for the first time to an Indian shirt since the final of the 2023 ODI World Cup and to an Indian T20I team for the first time since November 2022. The match could provide an idea of Shami’s fitness and effectiveness, which every Indian fan will want to be at its best ahead of the Champions Trophy.

On the other end, Indian fans will also want to see the best of Sanju Samson after his bumper end to 2024, which included a trio of centuries in which he looked imperious. More will also be expected of the mercurial Abhishek Sharma: while he has played his role as an opener who provides quick starts well, a little more consistency will be expected.

The middle order is where India’s strengths as well as the biggest questions lie. Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav form a deadly combination at three and four, capable of playing every role and every shot in the book. However, there are some questions if the number five spot will be retained by Hardik Pandya, with Nitish Kumar Reddy having become a favourite of coach Gautam Gambhir.

However, Hardik is likely a better bowler than Nitish, and his all-round ability should see him get the nod to support Shami and Arshdeep Singh. Axar Patel is expected to be the spin partner for Varun Chakravarthy, while the pitch could determine if India play an extra batter in Rinku Singh or an extra spinner in Washington Sundar.

England, meanwhile, have already announced their playing XI that will take to the field at the Eden Gardens. Phil Salt will open the batting at the ground where he made a name for himself in the IPL, alongside Ben Duckett, while Indian fans will get their first good look at the exciting Jacob Bethell as he develops into an all-format essential for England.

Jos Buttler will continue to be an experienced threat as captain, supported by reliable deputies in Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook. It will be a high-pace trio of Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, and Jofra Archer that will try and disrupt India’s batting from entering a flow, and Jamie Overton will provide ever-improving all-round talent in the lower middle order. Lastly, Adil Rashid continues to be the primary spinner in white ball cricket for the England team, and responsible for containing India’s middle-overs batting.

Here are some pointers to IND vs ENG 1st T20I:

- Varun Chakravarthy ended a brief fightback by dismissing Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone in the same over

- England were 46/2 at the end of the powerplay

- Arshdeep Singh struck in his very first over to equal Yuzvendra Chahal's record of most wickets for India in T20Is

- Mohammed Shami is sitting out, thus further delaying his return to international cricket

- India won the toss and chose to bowl first

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