2025 T20 series recap: India vs England

The Englishmen toured India for a five match T20I series in January and February 2025. The home team, India, won the series quite convincingly as they defeated the visitors by 4-1. Varun Chakaravarthy was the ‘Player of the Series’ as he bowled well in all the five matches. 

Match 1: 22 January, 2025 at Eden Gardens

First T20I match of 2025 was played on 22nd January. Due to the nature of this format, there was a lot of exuberance within the spectators, as they were eager to see Suryakumar and Co. rocking in the shortest format.

England batted first and Jos Butler scored a magnificent 68 off 44 deliveries. Apart from that, no other batsman performed and thus, they were restricted to 132 by the end of 20 overs. It was Varun Chakaravarthy who was excellent with the ball as he scalped three wickets. 

In the second innings, Abhishek Sharma did the needful as he scored a blistering 79(34), ensuring first victory of the series. England’s bowling attack, on the other hand, looked quite unembellished. 

Match 2: 25 January, 2025 at MA Chidambaram Stadium 

In the second match, India won the toss and elected to bowl. It was Jos Buttler, yet again, who scored maximum runs for his side, that is, 45 off 30. Other than that, it was a flop show as no other batsman managed to cross 40. However, with small cameos, the team huffed and puffed to reach 165 in 20 overs. From the Indian side, it was Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy, who took two wickets each. 

In the second innings, it was Tilak Verma who single handedly won the game by scoring 72 off 55 balls. Brydon Carse took three wickets but his lone efforts weren’t suffice to win a game. 

Match 3: 28 January, 2025 at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium 

Like the second match, India won the toss and elected to bowl. But this time, men in blue failed to chase down the target. Ben Duckett and Liam Livingstone came with a different frame of mind as they both were smashing the balls all over the park. Varun Chakaravarthy took a fifer and reduced the destruction but India failed to chase 171. Kudos to the disciplined bowling of Jofra Archer and Jamie Overton as they took 2 and 3 wickets respectively. 

Match 4: 31 January, 2025 at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium 

In the 4th match, England won the toss and elected to bowl. The top order of Indian Team collapsed but the all rounders- Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube rescued as they both scored half centuries to counter England’s bowling. Saqib Mahmood took three wickets for his team. 

In the second innings, it was the spin attack who dominated right from the start. Ravi Bishnoi took three wickets, Varun Chakaravarthy took two wickets and Axar Patel took one wicket. Later it was the concussion substitute and the debutant, Harshit Rana who played the final act by grabbing three wickets. 

Match 5: 02 February, 2025 at Wankhede Stadium 

India had already won the series hence this match didn’t have much significance. The match was played at Wankhede Stadium and hence it was a no-brainer that England won the toss and elected to bowl. 

Abhishek Sharma was in a different zone that night. He scored a 135 runs off just 54 balls, smashing seven 4’s and thirteen 6’s. His strokes were highly appreciated by each and every person present in the stadium that evening. By the end of the first innings, India piled up a target of 247. In the second innings, it was Phil Salt who scored a fifty and apart from that no other player contributed. The England team scored only 97 runs and they lost the match by 150 runs! 

Now that India has won the T20I series by 4-1, all the focus shifts towards the ODI series which will commence from 6th February, 2025 at Nagpur. This series will hold great significance as both the teams will bring their best foot forward as they will be participating in Champions Trophy in later part of this month.