Abhishek Sharma Shines as India Thrashes England in First T20

This was a reminder. Brendon McCullum has work to do despite England's evident pedigree - bat strength, ball speed, and trophy cabinet.

India secured their 14th win out of 16 since winning the T20 World Cup last year, defeating England's struggling white-ball setup by seven wickets with 43 balls remaining.

A battle against spin created the stage for India's comprehensive chase in Kolkata. While Jos Buttler shone with a 44-ball 68, his colleagues struggled in the middle overs. Varun Chakravarthy, Axar Patel, and Ravi Bishnoi bowled at under six per over, with the first two taking five wickets. In what was advertised as a run-fest, England only managed 132.

Then came a futuristic batting team that had scored over 200 in five of their previous six games. Sanju Samson opened the scoring with 22 off Gus Atkinson's opening over, but the night belonged to Abhishek Sharma, a left-hander who lets the hands fly. McCullum's record-breaking 34-ball 79 ended the game prematurely, and his tenure as all-format head coach began with a bang.

Both teams batted aggressively but had different wicket-taking strategies. A day before the game, England announced a bowling assault that included four quicks, whereas India only fielded one specialist fast bowler, Arshdeep Singh. The hosts relied on their three full-time spinners to counter McCullum's speed.

The green-tinged field welcomed pace, with Arshdeep inviting early miscues from Phil Salt and Ben Duckett, leaving England at 17 for two after three overs. The powerplay threatened to go to waste.

Buttler pushed back. McCullum has encouraged the 34-year-old skipper, claiming that his best is yet to come. The new coach attempts to replace his captain's stern expression with a more relaxed one. With Arshdeep in command at one end, Buttler targeted Hardik Pandya with six boundaries in the all-rounder's first two overs, picking the ball through various leg-side gaps.

Support from others did not arrive. Harry Brook showed some of his talents with a six-over extra cover off Axar but was undone on 17 by a Chakravarthy googly. The spinner's stump-to-stump mystery was as indecipherable as a five-year-old's handwriting. Liam Livingstone fell to the identical variation two balls later, and the collapse began.

Jacob Bethell lost his rhythm with a 14-ball seven. Jamie Overton, who had been picked for the late surge, was called in too soon in the 12th over, and his stay was cut short. Buttler's six off Chakravarthy in the 17th over did not signal the start of a spectacular one-person finish; a fielder found the next ball, leaving England 109 for eight.

"A little bit of movement in the pitch early on, and we lost a couple of wickets, but we just didn't quite impose the game we wanted to play," he added. "If anything, be more aggressive and return harder in the next one."

Could England's quicks make the evening tense? Jofra Archer started with a short leg and five dots. However, Samson then lay into Atkinson, a flattish six over cover being the best of them, before Sharma took advantage of Archer's speed, carrying another six over the offside with minimum footwork. Archer was ecstatic after dismissing Samson and Suryakumar Yadav in the same over. Still, Sharma soaked up the heat again, using Mark Wood to direct the ball for consecutive sixes.

When Adil Rashid's leggies were introduced in the eighth over, the tempo shift seemed a little late. Sharma was not prepared to do it in singles, slugging 16 off three Rashid deliveries before diverting Overton over fine leg to mark his half-century. Rashid ultimately caught him, but the game was long over with eight required from 49 balls.