Home
In preparation for Wednesday's opening T20 International at Eden Gardens, reigning world champion India and England landed in Kolkata on Saturday night. As the iconic venue holds its first T20I in almost three years, the city is ready to embrace cricket fever once more, despite the cool weather. The Champions Trophy, which will start on February 19 in Pakistan and Dubai, will be heavily influenced by the white-ball series, which consists of three ODIs and five T20Is.
Teams ready for big clash
The first person to check in was Liam Livingstone, an all-rounder for England who flew straight from South Africa after playing for the Pretoria Capitals in the SA20 2025. Later in the evening, the remaining members of the England team, led by Jos Buttler, who had been training in Dubai, arrived.
ALSO READ: Rishabh Pant to be named as new captain of this big team ahead of Champions Trophy 2025
Players began to arrive from their hometowns on the Indian side. Arriving in Kolkata at 4:30 PM, rising talents Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh were among the first to land. Later in the evening, Captain Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma arrived; Varma posted a photo of their trip to Instagram. Gautam Gambhir, the head coach, and other team members did the same.
According to the local team manager, pacer Mohammed Shami and all-rounder Hardik Pandya were expected to arrive at midnight, marking his return to international cricket after a 14-month absence. Prior to the first game of the series, both sides would train for three days. India will train in the evening on Sunday, while England will have an afternoon session.
The sides will head to Chennai for the second T20I on January 25 after the Eden Gardens encounter, and the five-match series will end in Mumbai on February 2. Next up are the ODIs at Ahmedabad (February 12), Cuttack (February 9), and Nagpur (February 6).
ADVERTISEMENT
