The first T20I of the five-match series between India and England got underway at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on January 22, 2025. India won the toss and chose to bowl first.

England declared its playing XI on social media the day before, with captain Jos Buttler batting at number three and without keeping wickets, while Phil Salt opened and took the gloves. England also relied on pace, with Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, and Mark Wood in the XI.

Suryakumar Yadav, India's captain, won the toss and decided to bowl first in Kolkata, keeping the dew issue in mind. One of the most thrilling aspects of Suryakumar's interaction with Ravi Shastri at the toss was learning the India playing XI.

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 thanks to Arshdeep Singh’s brilliant bowling. Jos Buttler, the captain, was the lone warrior with the bat, scoring 68 in 44 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes. Harry Brook was the only other major contributor with 17 runs as India spinners ran riots on England batters.

Varun Chakaravarthy took 3/23 in 4 overs and Axar Patel took 2/22, while Hardik Pandya took two wickets and Arshdeep Singh ended with 2/17 and became the leading T20 wicket-taker for India with 97 scalps.

Meanwhile Nitish Reddy, who didn’t get a chance to bowl in this innings, was busy on the boundary and took two excellent catches. The standout catch from Reddy was the one of Buttler.

Buttler hit a shortish ball from Varun on the leg side, and while the previous shot went for a boundary, this time, the ball hung up the air. Nitish Reddy judged the ball perfectly but had to dive in front of him to complete the catch.

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England was bowled out for 132 runs in 20 overs.