Giving due credit: Brook was vocal about McCullum’s contribution as a Test coach.
| Photo Credit: AP

India’s Washington Sundar plays a shot during the 1st ODI against England at Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: ANI

India’s Nitish Kumar during a practice session ahead of the third One-Day International match against Afghanistan at the Chepauk stadium, Chennai, on June 19, 2026.
| Photo Credit: R. RAGU

India’s Washington Sundar in action during the second day of the India- Afghanistan Test at the New Chandigarh Stadium on June 7, 2026.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

Washington Sundar in action during the IPL T20 match between Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, on May 3, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji

Representative image.© AFP

India’s batter Tilak Varma celebrates after India won the second T20 cricket match against England, at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Tilak Varma stood tall against a fiery English attack and single-handedly guided a tricky chase by slamming a fine unbeaten half-century (72 n.o., 55b, 4×4, 5×6) as India beat England by two wickets in the second T20I at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.

Chasing 166, the Men in Blue started strongly when Abhishek Sharma slammed Jofra Archer for three boundaries in the first over. But the English pacers were relentless and kept picking up wickets regularly to keep their side in the contest.

Tilak, who walked in at three, landed a few early punches when he smashed Archer for a boundary and two sixes in the fifth over.

On a pitch where it was not easy to play the cross-batted shots, the stylish left-handed looked serene, getting inside the line and using the pace to target the fine-leg boundary effectively.

Brydon Carse then silenced the rapturous crowd, removing Suryakumar Yadav and Dhruv Jurel in successive overs. And when Jamie Overton had Hardik Pandya caught behind, India was in trouble at 78 for five in the 10th over.

Tilak and local boy Washington Sundar (26) got the chase back on track, forging a 38-run alliance for the sixth wicket. Washington, who was dropped on 10 by Adil Rashid off Mark Wood, then made England feel the pain by collecting a six and two boundaries in the same over.

However, Carse cleaned up Washington in the next over to set the cat among the pigeons in the Indian camp.

Fortunately for the host, Tilak showed great composure and hit Archer for consecutive sixes in the 16th over, the first of which took him to his half-century in style.

Ravi Bishnoi then chipped in with two timely boundaries before Tilak fittingly finished the chase off, driving Overton through the covers to help India take a 2-0 lead.

Earlier, England managed to post 165 for nine, riding on cameos from skipper Jos Buttler (45, 30b, 2×4, 3×6) and Carse (31, 17b, 1×4, 3×6).

Buttler backed his strength of hitting through the line down the ground and collected three maximums to help his side race to 58 for two in the PowerPlay.

But, once the field spread out, the spinners quickly got on top against the middle-order.

England vice-captain Harry Brook, following the seven-wicket loss in the first T20I in Kolkata, had mentioned that the smog in the metropolis had contributed to the batters’ discomfiture against the spinners. There were no visibility issues on a pleasant and clear evening, but the English batters still struggled to handle the home team’s tweakers.

Varun, playing his first T20I in his backyard, needed just one ball to castle Brook for the second time this series.

Axar Patel then got into the act and struck twice in two overs, removing Buttler and Liam Livingstone as England slumped to 90 for five in the 12th over.

Taking charge

Carse, who replaced Gus Atkinson for this fixture, ensured that England didn’t fall apart like in the series opener. However, a mix-up with Jofra Archer cut short his innings in the 17th over and stopped England from a final flourish.

With heavy dew likely to impact the proceedings during the opening T20I at the Eden Gardens, India’s bowlers practised with wet balls and it will not be a surprise if the hosts field only two spinners, given the conditions. Dew is a perennial concern at this time of the year at Eden Gardens. Since dew makes it difficult to grip the ball, fielding a third spinner could prove to be costly. Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, a key member of the reigning IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders, appears to be an automatic choice for India and head coach Gautam Gambhir likely to pair him alongside vice-captain Axar Patel.

As a result, Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar may have to wait for their turn. “If we know there is going to be a heavy dew, you start preparing with the wet ball. You start bowling with the wet ball during practice sessions. You field with the wet ball. So these are the things which are in your control,” India skipper Suryakumar said.

“We try to control all those things which we can during practice sessions so that when the game comes, we are prepared.” It could also open the door for in-form Andhra all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who scored a historic maiden Test century during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

Reddy last appeared in a T20I during the home series against Bangladesh in October last year, and he will be eager to carry his form into this series, if given the opportunity.

Reddy made history as the first Indian batter to score a century in Australia while batting at number eight.

His inclusion would strengthen India’s batting line-up further.

From opening to No. 10, the slots are almost sorted. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson will open the innings, followed by Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, and Axar Patel — in no fixed order.

“We all want to be very flexible with the batting order. Other than the openers’ slots, which are fixed, I think from 3 to 8 or 7, everyone needs to be really flexible with their batting order. Anyone can go in at any time, and we have been practicing for that,” Suryakumar said.

A fit-again Mohammed Shami will spearhead the pace attack on his return to international cricket after nearly 14 months. He will be joined by left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh, providing variety.

The duo were seen putting in the hard yards during their match-eve training session.

Suryakumar expressed excitement over Shami’s return.

“It’s always good to have an experienced bowler in your side, and he is making a comeback after over a year. I am really excited to see him. I have seen his journey, how he focused on his bowling and recovery at the NCA.” “It felt good to see him (Shami) on the ground. He has bowled well too. Obviously, he has done his preparation, and he was confident from the start.” After bowling for more than an hour at full throttle during India’s first training session on Sunday, Shami did not bowl on Monday.

However, he was back to bowling with full intensity on the match eve.

“He has bowled well, and obviously, he has done his preparation. Even today, he is feeling good. Let’s see what happens tomorrow,” added Suryakumar.

It will be a homecoming for KKR star finisher Rinku Singh, who has had a quiet run recently, with scores of 8 not out, 11, 9, and 8 in his last four innings.

Suryakumar is hopeful that Rinku will come out all guns blazing.

“I want to see him hitting sixes. He has measured all the nooks and corners of Eden Gardens, having played a lot of cricket here. It will be a good welcome for him. It’s always a good stadium with a great atmosphere,” Suryakumar said.

Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin dropped a bomb as he decided to hang his boots in the middle of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Following the conclusion of the third Test in Brisbane, Ashwin announced his decision to quit international cricket, leaving fans and pundits befuddled over what transpired in the dressing room. While Ashwin hasn’t himself explained, in detail, the acts that prompted him to take such a big call, former India bowling coach Bharat Arun feels it was the team management’s decision to play Washington Sundar over him in the first Test at Perth.

“In the very first Test of the tour, a big star like Ravichandran Ashwin was snubbed for a youngster like Washington Sundar. That would certainly have hurt him,” Bharat Arun said in a chat with former India cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath.

Badrinath also shared his views in the conversation, saying Ashwin never took offense when Ravindra Jadeja was picked ahead of him in overseas tours but the Sundar decision is likely to have hurt him.

“In the past, Ravindra Jadeja played ahead of Ashwin a lot in overseas tours but I don’t think Ashwin was affected by that. But I feel that this time around, he might have been hurt by being pushed behind Sundar in the pecking order,” Badrinath said.

“Jadeja was slightly ahead of Ashwin on batting, and he was a left-hander as well. I myself have, at times, personally explained to Ashwin the reason for picking Jadeja over him. Ashwin took it [the reasoning] very well, too,” Arun answered.

Ashwin did feature in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide but was dropped again in Brisbane, for which India skipper Rohit Sharma played a big role in keeping the spinner with the team as he wnated to retire after the Perth match. But, Ashwin was dropped again in Brisbane, prompting to make the big call.

“But here, after having played so much top-level cricket, the tour got off to a false start for him. I think he would have been fine had they dropped him after two consecutive failures. But they dropped him for the very first Test, then played him in a pink-ball Test, and then dropped him again for the third Test.”

“After this sequence of events, Ashwin might have thought to himself that it’s best to move on.”

Karnataka’s Prasidh Krishna, Devdutt Padikkal and Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sundar will be available for the Vijay Hazare Trophy knockout matches, starting in Vadodara from Thursday, after featuring in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia. However, KL Rahul, who played all the five Test matches against the Aussies, has requested for a break and will skip the Hazare knockouts. Rahul’s availability for the second phase of the Ranji Trophy, beginning on January 23, will be decided at a later date. India head coach Gautam Gambhir had recently expressed his desire to see frontline Indian players making themselves available for the remainder of the premier domestic red-ball tournament.

Washington, though, could link up with Tamil Nadu only if the team progresses to the semifinals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

He played three matches and made 114 runs with a fifty but bowled just 37 overs across those Tests as pacers were preferred because of the conditions. The off-spinner took just three wickets.

Prasidh will be high on confidence after making a good impression in the fifth Test at Sydney, where the pacer grabbed six Australian wickets — 3/42 in the first innings and 3/65 in the second essay.

Devdutt played just one Test match at Perth, primarily because skipper Rohit Sharma stayed back in India to welcome his second baby.

The left-hander made a zero and 25 in India’s 295-run win at Perth but was not selected for any of the other four Test matches.

The 24-year-old was in terrific form prior to leaving for Australia for the India A tour, smashing four First-Class hundreds across Duleep Trophy and in the first leg of the Ranji Trophy.

Both Prasidh and Devdutt are scheduled to join the Karnataka squad on January 10, a day ahead of their quarterfinal match against Baroda at Vadodara.

Nitish to play Ranji

Nitish Kumar Reddy too will fly out of Australia on Wednesday but he will not be seen in action immediately as Andhra has not progressed to the knockout stage.

However, Nitish, who impressed everyone with his gutsy batting Down Under including a hundred at Melbourne, is likely to play in the second phase of the Ranji Trophy.

He has played only one match this season before travelling to Australia.

Andhra has two matches left this season against Puducherry from January 23 and against Rajasthan from January 30.

They are currently placed seventh in Elite Group B with four points after three defeats and two draws from five matches.