The second T20I will be played in Chennai on January 25, Saturday.
Suryakumar Yadav, India's captain, won the toss and decided to bowl first in Kolkata, keeping the dew issue in mind. Suryakumar announced the four players who were left out: Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, and, as a surprise, Mohammad Shami.
England lost both openers early on due to Arshdeep Singh's superb bowling. Jos Buttler, the captain, was the only batsman to get 68 in 44 balls, with eight fours and two sixes. Harry Brook was the only other significant contribution, with 17 runs, as India's spinners wreaked havoc on England's batters.
Varun Chakravarthy grabbed 3/23 in 4 overs, Axar Patel took 2/22, Hardik Pandya took two wickets, and Arshdeep Singh finished on 2/17 to become India's leading T20 wicket-taker with 97 scalps. England was bowled out for 132 runs in 20 overs.
In response, Sanju Samson scored 26 in 20 balls, while Suryakumar Yadav made a duck to start the innings. But it was Abhishek Sharma who single-handedly tormented the England bowlers. He made 79 in 34 balls with 5 fours and 8 towering sixes with a strike rate of 232.35.
He was dismissed by Adil Rashid, trying to finish the game quickly, and India eventually won by 7 wickets and went 1-0 up in the 5-match series. The next match will be played in Chennai on Saturday, January 25.
Varun Chakravarthy won the Player of the Match for his brilliant bowling effort of 3/23.
The cricket fraternity was all praises for Indian bowling and batting performances, especially that of Varun and Abhishek on social media.
Here are the posts: