Here are the takeaways from the 2024-25 T20I series between India and England that the hosts won 4-1.
McCullum’s mantra takes hold, but needs refining
This series marked Brendon McCullum's first in charge of England's white-ball sides, and his impact was clear immediately. The tourists fielded possibly their fastest ever attack, with four quicks capable of breaching 140kph, and used those quicks aggressively, often bowling three Jofra Archer overs in the powerplay. There were also some trademark funky field settings, and the batting was as adventurous as ever.
But the series scoreline, and the overwhelming margin of the final T20I defeat, suggests more tweaks are needed. Is high pace always the way to go, even on flat tracks with small boundaries as was the case at Mumbai, or is there room for more pace-off options and another specialist spinner? Did Harry Brook and Brydon Carse need to take on the final three balls of Varun Chakravarthy's spell in the fourth T20I, when they had almost consigned India's dangerman to a wicketless spell? Is there room for one more accumulator in the top three, to prevent the increasingly sorry sight of Jamie Overton walking out to face a spinner with a mountain to climb?
These are some of the questions McCullum has to answer; he can at least be under no illusion now about the scale of the task.
Abhishek and Varun showcase star quality
Eight months ago, Abhishek Sharma was an uncapped international. Varun Chakravarthy, a former India cap, tried and let go in 2021. Little was expected when their phenomenal performances at the 2024 IPL helped them earn T20I caps.
After 17 T20Is, Abhishek’s career aggregate reads 535 runs at a strike rate of 194, the highest in men’s T20Is with a 500-run cut-off. More than the rapid runs it was also how easily, how “correctly” did this, especially after the jaw-dropping, record-breaking 135 at Mumbai. He also bowls, which makes him an excellent fit in India’s new scheme of things.
Varun’s 33 wickets have come at only 14.57. Since his comeback, he has had 31 at a scarcely believable 11.25. As the series went on, his dual ability to keep England in check and pick wickets at the same time became almost predictable. Between them, they determined the course of the series.
England's spin struggles hurt them again
Until this series, never in history had England lost more than 17 wickets to spin in an entire series of any length involving any number of teams. For that matter, no ICC Full Member nation lost more than 23.
The Indian spinners shared 29 wickets this series, and it was not Varun alone. He, after all, bowled only 18 overs in the series – not many more than Ravi Bishnoi (17) or Axar Patel (14). While Varun was the true star of the attack – he got 14 wickets, after all – his fellow spinners got 15 as well, at a comparable economy rate.
It did not matter who was bowling: England simply capitulated against spin. Sometimes they were found rooted to the crease. Sometimes they stepped out and were caught in the deep. They would hit their way out once in a while, but there were far more misses than hits.
Concussion sub rules need a tweak
Jos Buttler was annoyed and rightly so. Shivam Dube was hit on the helmet en route to bludgeoning his way to a 34-ball 53. India then used a loophole to deploy Harshit Rana as a like-for-like concussion substitute, raising a few eyebrows. The criticism intensified after Rana’s 3-33 helped India win the match.
One can see why. While both are all-rounders, Rana is primarily a seamer with some batting credentials, while Dube is a batter who bowls a bit. Since the substitution happened after Dube was done with batting, India could get the best of both players – which is probably not what concussion substitutions were designed for. Curiously, Rana for Dube would almost certainly have been a fair substitution had England batted first.
The Playing Conditions will probably be rephrased to eliminate every loophole. Good luck with that, though.
No need to worry about SKYfall – yet
Six series (two as stand-in captain), five wins, one draw. Twenty-two games, 18 wins (including one in Super Over). India have won virtually everything under Suryakumar Yadav. Yet, there has been a problem: he has not been getting runs since the Bangladesh series.
Across two series – in South Africa, against England in India – and eight innings, he has faced 54 balls and has got as many runs, at 6.75. It would have been a cause of concern for some despite the outcome of the games and series. Yet, this was different.
Surya was out trying to slog in five out of these eight innings. In another, he tried to chip one past mid-on but found the fielder. In almost each of these cases he was trying to up the ante very early in his innings instead of taking time to settle down – an approach that has made him stand out among his peers in the format.
For batters who adopt a high-risk approach early in their innings, a string of low scores is inevitable. Almost invariably these are followed by absurd highs. India do not play T20Is in another six months. By then, “SKY” should have had enough T20 runs under his belt for the critics to put this season behind.
