The five-match T20I series in England's tour to India will head to the iconic MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai for game two on Saturday under the floodlights.
The T20 world champions will be riding a wave of confidence coming into this match after producing a commanding performance in Kolkata in midweek to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Match preview
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After Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl first in Kolkata, the Indian bowlers unleashed a dominant performance, dismantling England's batting lineup and restricting them to a mere 132.
Despite a valiant 68 off 44 balls from Jos Buttler, England struggled to find support at the other end as Varun Chakravarthy scalped three wickets for just 23 runs, while Arshdeep Singh, Hardik Pandya and Axar Patel all took two wickets apiece.
Singh, in particular, looked very good with the new ball, continuing his impressive form from the IPL, as he picked up the key wickets of both Phil Salt and Ben Duckett in the powerplay to put his side firmly in the driver's seat.
Chasing just 133 for victory, Sanju Samson gave India a brisk start with 26 in just 20 balls, but the pick of the Indian batsmen was Abhishek Sharma, who produced a coming-of-age knock of 79 runs in just 34 balls, leading his side to victory with 7.1 overs to spare.
With that result, the Men in Blue have now won 13 matches in the shortest format since their T20I World Cup triumph in the US and the Caribbean last year, while only conceding two defeats in that period.
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Meanwhile, Brendan McCullum's tenure as the white-ball head coach could not have got off to a worse start in Kolkata, and the former New Zealand great will be eager to bounce back this weekend in Chennai.
However, doing so will certainly not be easy based on his side's batting performance in the first match, where barring Buttler's resilient knock, no other English batter managed to score more than 17 runs.
The highly-rated Jacob Bethell laboured to score seven off 14 balls, Jamie Overton contributed just two runs at number seven and Gus Atkinson was dismissed for a frustrating two off 12 balls by England's nemesis, Axar Patel.
With the ball, the Three Lions were largely ineffective outside of Jofra Archer, who took two wickets for just 21 runs in his four-over allotment, but it was nowhere close to being enough to avoid their heaviest T20 defeat in terms of deliveries remaining.
The manner of the defeat will likely lead to the visitors rethinking their strategy heading into the second match, as unlike their opponents, England opted to try and hit their hosts with a pace-heavy attack - something that the Indian batsmen seemed to relish on the slower pitch.
Team News
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Despite an economical spell of just 22 runs from his four overs, Ravi Bishnoi was the only Indian bowler who did not take a wicket and could be replaced in the starting 11 by Mohammed Shami in game two.
Shami last featured for the Men in Blue in the 2023 World Cup final against Australia in Ahmedabad and was widely expected to partner Singh with the new ball in Kolkata, but reports after the match suggested that the pacer was not 100% fit to start.
Given the poor performances of England's quicks, McCullum and Buttler may consider fielding two specialist spinners in this match, which could see young Rehan Ahmed make the starting 11 to partner Adil Rashid.
Brydon Carse and Saqib Mahmood are also in contention to feature this weekend, while Gus Atkinson could be one to miss out after going for 19 runs per over with the ball in the first match, while contributing just two runs batting at number eight.
India squad: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(WK), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav(C), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Dhruv Jurel, Harshit Rana
England squad: Ben Duckett, Philip Salt(WK), Jos Buttler(C), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood, Brydon Carse, Jamie Smith, Rehan Ahmed
Series so far
T20 1 of 5: India won by 7 wickets
England - 132 (20)
India - 133/3 (12.5)
We say: India to win
While changes in tactics and personnel are expected for England in this match, the manner in which they were beaten by their hosts in Kolkata was concerning. We feel the Men in Blue will follow up on that performance and take a 2-0 lead in the series this weekend.
Devesh Jaganath
