The Indian national cricket team, led by Suryakumar Yadav, defeated the England national cricket team in the first T20I of the five-match series at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Wednesday, January 22.

The Suryakumar Yadav-led Indian national cricket team won the match by 7 wickets with 43 balls remaining to take the series 1-0 lead.

Also read: ‘Era of Suryakumar Yadav’s downfall’ – India captain branded ‘fraud’ after defeat in first ENG T20I

India beat Three Lions in Kolkata

Team India played some fantastic cricket in the T20I series opener. They won the toss and bowled first, restricting their opponents to 132 runs.

Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya took two wickets each while Varun Chakravar West (Varun Chakravarthy) performed well and took three wickets.

It was an easy run chase for the hosts as Abhishek Sharma put on a batting masterclass and scored 79 runs. Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma were also involved in the runs and the run chase ended with 12.5 overs.

All bowlers have a plan and execute it – Suryakumar Yadav

India captain Suryakumar Yadav, speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, praised the bowlers for executing their plan well. He said:

“Our energy, the way we started, set the benchmark. All the bowlers had a plan and executed it.

“We wanted to stick to our strengths (in picking the three spinners). All three of them did an outstanding job.”

Suryakumar Yadav further praised Varun Chakravarthy and Arshdeep Singh for their continued outstanding performance. He also singled out head coach Gautam Gambhir and said he gives a lot of freedom to his players. Suryakumar Yadav elaborates:

“(Varun) he made it very easy and his preparation was spot on.

“He (Ashdeep) has taken the responsibility and has been doing that. Gowti Bai has given a lot of freedom. We have been working hard with the fielding coach.

Differences between India and England 2024 T20 World Cup semi-final line-ups

The differences in the line-ups between India and England in the first T20I of the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup semi-finals at the Eden Gardens reflect the transitional phase of the two teams.

In the semi-finals, India’s top players are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant, while Suryaku Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya are firmly in the middle order, with the latter also providing pace bowling.

Spin bowling all-rounders Axar Patel and Ravindra Jadeja provide stability with the ball and bat. The Indian bowling unit includes Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah, who combine pace and spin.

Meanwhile, in the T20I match against the Three Lions, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma have emerged as openers, replacing players from the T20I board after the 2024 T20 World Cup Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retired with the ball.

The other batsmen in the line-up are Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav and Rinku Singh, with all-round duties being taken care of by Hardik Pan Hardik Pandya, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Axar Patel are in charge. Additionally, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi and Varun Chakravarthy are the three pure bowlers in the eleven.

England’s semi-final line-up, on the other hand, has Phil Salter, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow leading the batting, while Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone and Sam ·Experienced all-round players such as Curran add depth.

The fast bowling attack consists of Jofra Archer, Chris Jordan and Reece Topley with Adil Rashid taking care of the spin duties. In comparison, England had a different line-up in the first T20I against India, with Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell and Jamie Overton joining Gus Atkinson. and Mark Wood made up the squad, but neither played in the semi-finals.