England captain Jos Buttler (c) during the players warm up during a nets session at Eden Gardens on January 20, 2025 in Kolkata, India. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
The T20 World Cup champions and the number 1 ranked T20I side in the world will clash with a revamped number 3 ranked side in a five-match series which gets underway at the historic Eden Gardens in Kolkata from Wednesday. While hosts India would be desperate for some positive results after two consecutive Test series defeats, England would look to climb up the ladder in white-ball cricket under their new full-time coach – Brendon McCullum.
The series is expected to be a batting run-fest with two destructive line-ups clashing with one another on flat tracks across India.
RG presents a statistical preview of the T20I series.
10.05 – India’s run-rate post the 2024 T20 World Cup
India have gone all-out on the rampage post their spectacular triumph at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean/USA. They have blasted their runs at a stunning run-rate of 10.05 – the highest amongst the major teams in the world – and have adopted an ultra-aggressive policy at the top of the order especially in the powerplay. They smashed 82 in the first six overs against Bangladesh in Hyderabad which is their joint-highest score in the powerplay in T20I cricket.
India have hit a boundary every 4.27 deliveries since the World Cup and have breached the 200-run mark on as many as seven (of 11) instances batting first. They blasted 297/6 against Bangladesh in Hyderabad which is the highest T20I total by a major cricket playing nation. India also piled on 283/1 against South Africa in Johannesburg which is the second-highest team total amongst the major cricketing powers in the world. India also have the best frequency of hitting sixes (10 sixes every match) in this time-frame.
Under their new management, India has won 13 of their 15 matches and have the second-highest win percentage of 86.7%, just marginally behind Australia (7 wins in 8 matches for a win percentage of 87.5%).
3 – Number of targets chased down by England at a run-rate of greater than 10 since the 2024 T20 World Cup
While India’s strength has been piling on big totals batting first, England have been on the rampage in their run-chases post the T20 World Cup in June. England have mauled down three 160-plus targets (including two between 180 and 200) at a run-rate of greater than 10 in this time-frame.
170 – Five Indian batters have a strike rate of in excess of 170 since the 2024 T20 World Cup
Sanju Samson has been the most prolific Indian batter in T20I cricket in this time-frame with an aggregate of 436 runs in just 11 innings at a strike rate of 180.9 including three hundreds. Tilak Verma has also hammered two tons in four innings and scored at a rate of 198.6 while Abhishek Sharma (strike rate of 171.8) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (170) have also scored at a blistering pace. Suryakumar Yadav has also scored his runs at a rate of 169.1 which basically means that five Indian batters have scored at around a rate of 170 or more since India’s victory at the World Cup.
160 – Four English batters have a strike rate of in excess of 160 since the 2024 T20 World Cup
Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell have been in blistering form since the 2024 T20 World Cup all scoring in excess of 160 per hundred deliveries. Liam Livingstone is not far behind with a strike rate of almost 160 (159.66) in this time-frame.
20 – The number of wickets for Ravi Bishnoi since the 2024 T20 World Cup
Ravi Bishnoi is the leading wicket-taker for India (and the second-highest in the world) post the World Cup with 20 dismissals in 13 matches at a strike rate of 15 and economy of 6.94. Varun Chakravarthy (17 wickets in 7 matches at a strike rate of 9.8) and Arshdeep Singh (16 wickets in 8 matches at a strike rate of 10) have been the other standout bowlers for India in this period.
3 – Number of times Shami has dismissed Buttler in T20 cricket
Jos Buttler vs Mohammed Shami is expected to be a key battle in the powerplay. The two have faced each other on 11 occasions in all T20 cricket with Shami dismissing Buttler three times. Buttler has an average of 34 and strike rate of 139.7 against Shami.
2 - Number of times Archer has dismissed SKY in T20 cricket
Suryakumar Yadav vs Jofra Archer will be another key battle in the Indian innings. Archer has dismissed SKY twice in seven innings while giving away just 29 runs off 25 deliveries.
Nikhil Narain
