Cricket

India vs England 1st T20 Tips - Sixes To Fly On Eden Gardens’ Short Boundaries

By Nikhil Kalro

05 Feb 2025

Nikhil Kalro 05 Feb 2025

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India and England commence a five-match T20I series at Eden Gardens
Brendon McCullum’s tenure as England's white-ball coach begins
Back over 14.5 sixes to be hit

India (Getty Images)

India vs England First T20I Preview
India Form
India Team News
England Form
England Team News

India vs England First T20I Preview

India and England will begin a long five-match T20I series on Wednesday at the Eden Gardens to also kick off Brendon McCullum’s new tenure as white-ball coach.

McCullum, who was England’s red-ball coach, will now take over all formats as preparation for a long white-ball stint begins.

India, on the other hand, will look to a new-look T20I squad for this series after the retirements of some key old hands, including Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

India will be led by captain Suryakumar Yadav while newly-appointed Axar Patel will be his deputy. India also have new faces in Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Harshit Rana.

India Form

India’s T20I squad has enjoyed a long break since their tour to Africa, which included series against Zimbabwe and South Africa.

While that series was defined by several sparkling individual performances, including from Tilak Varma and Sanju Samson, there will be a keenness to provide more chances to as many members of the squad as possible.

"The World Cup is coming up in a year so how we approach leading up to that, we want to try it from now itself. That's the main target," Axar said.

"Momentum is a big thing because if you start well, you can carry it. We finished 2024 well so we want to carry the momentum into this series too. Transition is also something happening, across all formats, but that's a call for the selectors and captain to take.”

India Team News

India will be keeping an eye out on Shami, whose return to fitness has been awaited for a while now. Axar Patel also hinted at a flexible middle order that could take various shapes depending on the situation of the match.

Hardik Pandya will continue to be a key cog in the middle order as well as the natural sixth bowling option.

England Form

England will likely play T20 cricket just the same as Tests, the Bazball way. Under captain Jos Buttler, you would expect this England team to approach this series with an intent to entertain and dominate.

That may not be evident from their bowling but their batting unit is stacked with hitters throughout.

"It's going to be a tough tour,” McCullum said. “We're taking on a very good India side, and I'm sure we'll play what I hope is a very watchable style of cricket.

"I'm sure there'll be some times we don't quite get it right but, hopefully, we'll chisel away at that over the next few weeks and be in good shape come the Champions Trophy.”

England Team News

England have six pace bowlers in Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, Mark Wood and Saqib Mahmood while Adil Rashid and Rehan Ahmed will assume spin-bowling duties along with the part-time spin of Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell.

Verdict

At the Eden Gardens, you usually witness a lot of runs. That’s the nature of the surface for most IPL matches at this venue where scores in excess of 180 can be chased down with overs to spare.

With dew a possibility as well as short boundaries throughout the venue, you can find a safe betting pick in the over for the sixes market.