Kolkata, Jan 22 After thrashing England by seven wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match T20I series, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav praised the enthusiasm shown by his team for being bang on in all aspects of the game. At the Eden Gardens on Wednesday, led by Varun Chakaravarthy’s 3-23, the bowlers put in a magnificent performance to bowl out England for 132. In reply, Abhishek Sharma’s 79 helped India complete the chase of 133 inside 13 overs.
"The energy after we won the toss set the benchmark. Bowlers had plans and executed (them), and the way we batted was icing on the cake. We did the same in South Africa, Hardik had a responsibility to bowl new ball so cushion to play the extra spinner.”
“Varun's preparations are on point, and Arshdeep is taking the extra responsibility. There's a lot of freedom given, we want to play a bit different. The fielding is one area we've been working really hard. Let's take those half chances and make a difference," said Suryakumar after the match ended.
For England, this was the start of their new white-ball era under Brendon McCullum’s coaching, but it ended on a tepid note. Captain Jos Buttler admitted the batting performance didn’t turn out to be the way they expected. “There was a little bit in the wicket early on, probably didn't expect that. It looked like a really good wicket, they found a little bit of movement and we lost a couple of wickets. But if you come through that phase, it's a pretty good pitch and obviously a fast-scoring ground.”
“Some really good players in there, we wanted to enforce the game that we want to play and we weren't quite capable of doing that today against some good bowlers but we're better for the run-out and we're looking forward to the next one.”
Asked about Jofra Archer’s 2-21, Buttler said, “He (Jofra Archer) always looks good, he's a superstar, he looked threatening. Thought he could have had a few more wickets there. Mark Wood was bowling fast as well. To see two of them operate in tandem is exciting.” Buttler signed off by promising England will show their aggressive side in coming matches. “We want to be aggressive, we want to be watchable. We are up against a team who are ultra-aggressive as well, so it's really exciting.”
“Venue to venue, you got to assess the conditions and play well. I am really enjoying the environment. I am a big McCullum fan, I always was when he was playing, so great to be working with him in the dressing room now.”
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