After taking over as England’s all-format head coach, Brendon McCullum will look to revive old memories of his exploits on Indian Premier League (IPL) debut in the city many moons ago, as he shifts focus on England’s white-ball setup, with the immediate goal being the Champions Trophy while also building towards the 2026 T20 World Cup.
Putting behind their failures in the recent two World Cups, England will look to begin afresh with eight of their current squad members haven’t played a T20 in India. Three of them – Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, and Brydon Carse – are newcomers.
Barring a 2-1 ODI series win in 2018, England haven’t won a single bilateral white-ball series in India since 2017 – they’ve lost seven ODIs and nine T20Is in this period. But McCullum’s immediate focus isn’t on victories, but about smooth transition.
“Obviously, we want to win every game we play, to try and be successful, and that’s ultimately the mission for us. But our conversations and the language which we use within the dressing-rooms is quite different,” said McCullum.
“It’s about trying to get the best out of the talent that sits within the dressing room, trying to gel the guys as best we can, trying to work out complementary skills, and how we play the style of cricket that gives us our greatest chance.
“I’m desperate for us to play a really watchable brand of cricket. With the talent we have, there’s no reason why we can’t. We’ve got a batting line-up which is as powerful as any batting line-up in the world. We’ve got gun spinners, very good fielders and guys who bowl absolute rockets with the ball, so you’ve got options there to be able to entertain and give yourself the greatest chance of success,” he added.
McCullum also confirmed that Buttler would once again be relinquishing the gloves, in order to lead the team from the field rather than behind the stumps, with Phil Salt likely to continue in the role he took on for both series in the Caribbean in November.
“It’s really a really positive thing for us, because it gives Jos the opportunity to have the last say with the bowler, and to have that relationship built at that last second, rather than from 22 yards
away,” McCullum said. “We’ve got great keeping options within the side as well.”
England possesses the talent to deliver that highly ‘watchable brand of cricket’. Their batting lineup is packed with stars like Phil Salt, Jos Buttler, Bethell, Harry Brook, and Liam Livingstone, while their bowling attack features the likes of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, and Adil Rashid, among others.
Meanwhile, India, the reigning World Champions, will look to extend their dominance in the shortest format, and keep their worries of the other two formats aside. The T20 unit, post the retirement of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, have witnessed a smooth transition with Suryakumar Yadav at the helm.
Since the conclusion of the 2024 T20 World Cup that witnessed the retirements of the three greats, India have featured in 15 T20Is and have lost only two matches. With a set opening combo of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, the T20I side boasts in-form batters in Tilak Varma along with the skipper Suryakumar, Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh.
India’s latest addition to the leadership group, Axar Patel had on Monday, stressed on the importance of floaters in the middle-order, and thus the series could potentially see a new T20I batting template from the hosts.
Patel will also spearhead the team’s spin department, also consisting of Varun Chakaravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi.
Meanwhile, the pace unit will be bolstered by the return of the seasoned Mohammed Shami after being sidelined by surgery and injuries, for nearly a year. Shami, who has also been picked for the three ODIs against England and next month’s ICC Champions Trophy, will look to make the most on return to action in international cricket.
Although he missed out on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy due to fitness concerns, the 34-year-old represented Bengal in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and played three matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, irrespective of a minor swelling due to increased joint loading from his bowling workload.
During the period, left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh has proven to be a potent weapon in the shortest format for India, and will hope to continue the momentum in white-ball cricket after his selection for the ODIs and the Champions Trophy squads.