Revamped England meet a well-oiled, kinetic machine

Two googlies made for a microcosm of the lopsided series opener between India and England in Kolkata. Pace basher Liam Livingstone faced the first from Varun Chakravarthy. Unable to register the finger dexterity at the point of release, he played all over the wrong un’ to lose his stumps, even though the mystery spinner isn’t a huge turner of the ball.

Abhishek Sharma was served the second, by Adil Rashid. He read the delivery out of the palm and stepped out to hit the ball with the spin over extra cover for six, even though the leggie gets it to rip. A pair of shoddy T20 World Cups in their rearview mirror, an unassured England aided India’s demolition job, while the confidence and clarity of the hosts – acquired by winning 24 out of 26 T20Is in the last calendar year – powered them through even the meatier challenges coming their way.

Like how Axar Patel finished with figures of 22/2 despite conceding 15 runs in his first over. Taken apart at the start of their quota, bowlers with lesser resolve lose the plot, falling into a downward spiral. The Indian vice-captain, however, exuded a been-there-done-that energy to exit with an impressive economy. While Chakravarthy’s triple strike in the middle phase gave him the cushion of bowling to the lower-order batters in his second spell, it is worth noting that England bat deep. Jamie Overton’s whip across the line off Axar all but revealed the plan to kill an injured soldier, given Buttler was still occupying the crease.

“I think we’re really blessed actually in terms of the bowlers that we have here on this tour are all very, very capable batsmen. If you look at guys like Gus Atkinson with a Test 100, Brydon Carse is an excellent hitter of the ball and guys, even Adil Rashid sometimes is down at 11 who’s got multiple first-class 100s,’’ Buttler highlighted.

“That gives a lot of depth to the 11 and confidence to the guys at the top that there’s plenty to come so we can be really aggressive and not worry too much about our wicket because we’ve got guys behind us that can do exactly the same job,” the skipper added.

Now ponder on the consummate ease with which Arshdeep Singh silenced the license-holding England openers, going past Yuzvendra Chahal to become the leading wicket-taker for India in T20s with 97 scalps in 61 matches. India weren’t swayed away by the greenish hue of the Eden Gardens pitch and fielded three frontline spinners to England’s one as top edges elicited by Arshdeep with the new ball validated India’s hunch with regards to the stickiness. The ball left both Phil Salt and Ben Duckett, whose mistimed flick was caught proficiently over the shoulder by Rinku Singh at cover, making it three dismissals against left-arm pace in four T20I innings for the southpaw since 2023.

England’s catching was not as immaculate. Adil Rashid dropped Abhishek Sharma on 29 in his follow through, and the youngster pillaged 50 runs off his next 19 balls, concluding with 79 from 34 at a strike rate of 232. The most breathtaking of his eight sixes was the flay over cover against Jofra Archer as Abhishek, being a lean guy, showed a tendency to stay beside the ball and use the express pace to his advantage rather than fight it. His vivacious brand of cricket lends itself to India’s evolved approach to the shortest format, and such an enforcer can only thrive in a supportive environment given the death-and-glory nature of the job. Fortunately, the safety net has been at his disposal at Sunrisers Hyderabad as well as in the national camp.

“I think as a batter, I was very lucky to get those kinds of players and coaches in Hyderabad. The momentum came from there only. I think the way they gave us freedom, and as a youngster, I always wanted to go and express myself, and I just worked on that a bit, and when I came in the IPL, the plan was pretty much simple, just go and express. And if it’s in your arc, even if it’s the first ball, just go for it,’’ remarked Abhishek.

“And I think coming from that, even in the Indian team as well, the plan was pretty much simple. We never had a conversation like this, that we have to play according to the situation or something like that. They always wanted me to just go and express myself, and I think today was one of those examples that I thought it was my day, and I just wanted to win the game.”

As many as eight members of the current England squad are naive to Indian conditions. 

He kept his foot on the accelerator even when Sanju Samson and Suryakumar Yadav departed in quick succession, leaving India in a spot of bother at 41/2 after having brought the target down to 100 at the end of the third over. 86.07% of Abhishek’s runs came in boundaries, with only Rohit Sharma’s 118 against Sri Lanka in Indore in 2017 featuring a higher boundary contribution in all 75+ individual scores.

The no-holds-barred philosophy was key to England’s white-ball renaissance so they did not cease fire even as India struck at regular intervals, however Chakravarthy 2.0 proved too smart to outwit. “After the 2021 World Cup, I analysed my bowling and what I found was I was bowling more sidespin, and I wasn’t being able to beat the batsmen through sidespin,” Varun told the broadcaster. “I worked out that I need to beat them with bounce. Then I started working with overspin. If it bounces more, the chances are I can get it to spin more.

“I also worked on varying my pace because I don’t want them to line me up by bowling at the same pace all the time. Because I’m used to seeing such pitches in the IPL, I know it is ideal for the seamers but there are certain lengths that are helpful for the spinners too. I am trying to keep it away from their arc. Balls in the just-short length were holding a bit,” added Varun, who has picked up 20 wickets in 8 matches since his senior comeback after three years. His flawless execution consigned England to an output of just 86 runs outside the PowerPlay despite having eight wickets in hand.

The cricketing caravan rolls to Chennai, hence England need a quick fix for their spin troubles. For, an underwhelming total at the Eden Gardens left them playing catch-up versus an Indian outfit brimming with zeal.

Broadcast Schedule

India v England White ball series
IND v ENG 2nd ODI, Cuttack
9th February
Start time: 8:00 am GMT
IND v ENG 3rd ODI, Ahmedebad
12th February
Start time: 8:00 am GMT