That is the end of this one-sided series opener from Eden Gardens. India brush England aside with an all-round performance. The hosts take a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series, with the caravan moving to Chennai for the second game on Saturday.
For now, this is me, AkshayaKrishna Polya, signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Ajay Pal Singh and scorer/analyst Manish Bishnoi, who brought you all the live-action of this India domination. We will meet again. Until then, its cheers!
Most Balls Remaining in a Successful Run Chase for India in T20Is:
81 vs Scotland, Dubai, 2021
64 vs Bangladesh, Hangzhou, 2023
59 vs UAE, Mirpur, 2016
49 vs Bangladesh, Gwalior, 2024
46 vs Ireland, New York, 2024 43 vs England, Kolkata, 2025, Tonight*
Varun Chakaravarthy (POTM): " I am used to seeing such pitches in the IPL. It is for seamers, but the length I bowl is helpful, too. Keep it away from the batter's arc, with the pitch holding a bit, I can succeed.
Every over, bowling to a batter like Jos Buttler and bowling at Eden Gardens are definitely challenging, but with God's grace, I was successful. The last over was really challenging but thankfully, I was successful.
Extracting more bounce because I cannot beat the batter with side-spin and can do it only with bounce.
Still more work to do. Only 7 out of 10 is what I rate my tonight's performance. A lot to learn."
Player of the Match: Varun Chakaravarthy
Suryakumar Yadav (India Captain): "The energy we put on the field was excellent to watch. After we won the toss and fielded, the way we started set the benchmark.
All the bowlers had plans and executed them very well.
The way we batted was icing on the cake. We did the same in South Africa.
Hardik Pandya had a responsibility to bowl with the new ball, so there was always a cushion to play an extra spinner. We wanted to stick to our strengths. All three spinners are doing a wonderful job.
Varun Chakaravarthy's preparations are on point. Arshdeep Singh is taking the extra responsibility.
There's a lot of freedom given by Gauti bhai (Gautam Gambhir); we want to play a bit differently. Fielding is one area in which we have been working really hard. Let us take those half chances and make a difference."