Bazball pioneer, Brendon McCullum, saw his England side get well and truly beaten in their latest T20 series in India. The Kiwi, formerly only in charge of the English Test team, was leading them in white-ball cricket for the first time and great things were expected. Of course, change takes time, but the chastening nature of the 4-1 series defeat shows just how much work there is to be done.
England’s 50-over and 20-over teams ruled the world for a time, winning the World Cup in the longer format in 2019 and in the shorter version of the game in 2022. However, the rest of the world has caught up – and then some – and their defence of both tournaments never really got going. Performances have slipped as key players have aged and retired, and England find themselves down in seventh place in the ICC ODI rankings and third in T20.
India top the pile quite comfortably in both versions of the game, whilst the domestic IPL is easily the world’s biggest, best and most prestigious T20 league. As such, it was no huge surprise that India, on home soil, won the series against England, but the score, particularly in the final game, makes it clear that McCullum has a lot of problems to fix.
Record Win for Hosts, Albeit in Dead Rubber
Let us start at the end, and the fifth game of the series, which took place on the 2nd of February, 2025. In some ways this was the least interesting match of the five, given India had already wrapped up the series, leading 3-1. However, the scale of India’s win in Mumbai, and the many records that fell, mean it is the clash that really got fans talking.
The tourists won the toss and finally got to chase but as India raced to 95-1 in the powerplay, Jos Buttler probably wished things had worked out differently. Abhishek Sharma hit a sensational 135 from just 54 balls to power his side to a massive 247/9. His century came from just 37 balls and was the third-fastest in a game between two major, Test-playing countries.
He hit 13 sixes, an Indian record, as well as seven fours, as England’s decision to favour a pace-bowling attack was made to look foolish. Jamie Overton’s three overs cost 48, and whilst Mark Wood bowled well to only go at eight an over, Jofra Archer also got the treatment, conceding 55 from his four overs.
Of the English batters, only Phil Salt got going, hitting a very nice 55 from 23 balls, but fellow opener Ben Duckett was dismissed first ball. Only one other player reached double figures as England were bowled out for just 97, barely using half of their 20 overs.
Sharma’s 135 was the best-ever T20 score by a player from India, with the team’s 95 in the powerplay their best in the format. It was England’s worst loss in T20s (in terms of runs) and in fact the second heaviest ever in a game between Test nations. There is little respite for many of the tourists, with the ODI series beginning just a few days after this loss, ahead of the Champions Trophy later in the month.
First Game of Series Sets the Tone
India won the toss in the first match and it was downhill from there! Put into bat, England were skittled for 132, though they did manage to use all 120 balls. Only Buttler troubled the home side, stroking 68 from 44 balls but it was clearly a sub-par total.
Fifth-game hero Sharma soon made it clear just how far short the tourists had fallen as he plundered a rapid 79 from just 34 balls. His eight sixes was more than double the tally of the whole England team. The home side raced to their target with more than seven overs to spare, for the loss of just three wickets, and it was clear England were going to be up against it.
Games 2, 3 and 4 More Even
Clearly facing the top-ranked side on home soil is always going to be difficult and especially in that context, it would be wrong to portray the series as a total disaster for the tourists. In the middle three matches, they pushed India hard and having lost the second game they managed to keep the series alive by winning the third.
The second clash took place at Chennai and India again won the toss and opted to put England in. Buttler again impressed with 45, whilst Jamie Smith scored a brisk 22 and Brydon Carse gave England something to bowl at with 31 off 17. 165/9 wasn’t a great total but when the hosts struggled to 116/6 it seemed it might prove enough.
In the end though, Tilak Varma’s composed 72 (from 55 balls) was enough to guide India home. They reached their target with four balls and two wickets to spare. The third fixture brought England’s only win and again put in to bat, they finally clicked, at least a little, to post 171/9. They should probably have managed more but they fell away as India kept picking up wickets.
However, a fine bowling performance from England’s pace attack and a very economical four overs from Rashid meant it was more than enough. India misfired and could only muster 145/9 as Buttler’s men kept hope alive.
That hope and resistance was ended in the penultimate game, albeit in rather controversial circumstances. The scoreboard will show that India scored 181/9 and England replied with 166 all out with two balls remaining. However, England will feel they were undone by a controversial concussion sub, which saw India allowed to replace all-rounder Shivam Dube, more of a batter than a bowler, with a pace bowler Harshit Rana.
Dube hit 53 before being hit on the helmet late on and should have been replaced with a “like for like” player. It seems hard to fathom how Rana was that cricketer and the quick really rubbed it in by taking three wickets to help India seal the series.
Series Averages Show Gulf in Class
India claim victory in the final T20I.
Congratulations to the hosts who win the series 4-1. pic.twitter.com/poh6TZlHbS
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 2, 2025
Whilst there were some positives to be taken from the series – at least as far as the uber-positive McCullum and Buttler are concerned – a look at the various player averages paints a clear picture of how the five games went. Four of the top five batting averages belonged to Indians, with Buttler the only one of the tourists to average over 22. The top three six-hitters all played for the home side, whilst Varun Chakravarthy’s 14 wickets was at least five more than anyone else.
Indian bowlers occupied the top four spots in terms of strike rate and average too, whilst they boasted five of the best six economy rates. Of the English bowlers, only Adil Rashid went for less than 8.37 per over, which rather makes a mockery of the decision to only include one front-line spinner. Hopefully lessons will be learnt from this – there are certainly plenty of opportunities for improvement.