India vs England 2021: 5 Most Memorable T20 Encounters Between The Two Teams

After an intense test series, England are set to play five T20 internationals against the hosts India and the two teams have been in some great rivalry in the past. With the T20 World Cup coming up this year, this will be a great testimony for the youngsters who have got the nod on the Indian side. Being a home series, Virat Kohli’s men will get the much need practice for the big tournament later this year.

Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tewatia were the new faces in the Indian squad for the England T20 series while Rishabh Pant is back in the limited-overs squad owing to his good red ball performances. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has returned to the Indian squad while Bumrah has been rested for the series.

With two days to go, it is time to look at the 5 most memorable t20 encounters between the two teams;

5. India vs England – 2nd T20, Nagpur, 2017

This was a match that brought out so much harmony to the Indian fans as the Indian pace attack proved to be high class. India went on to bat first and posted a very par score of 144 for the loss of eight wickets. KL Rahul top-scored with a good knock of 71 of just 47 deliveries while Manish Pandey and Kohli were the other two batsmen to get to double figures.

In reply, England stuttered at the start as Ashish Nehra produced a brilliant spell in the powerplay. He picked up three wickets but conceded 16 runs in his last over leaving England 8 runs to get in the final over. Jasprit Bumrah pulled off a brilliant final over to concede just 2 runs while dismissing Joe Root and Jos Buttler and deservedly won the man of the match award for his figures of 2 for 20 in four overs.

4. India vs England – only T20i, Birmingham, 2014

This was the only T20i in the full tour of England for India and after a 3-1 ODI series win, England were due for some revenge. England batted first and posted a good total of 180 runs on the board for the fall of 7 wickets. Eoin Morgan scored a quickfire 71 in just 31 balls while Mohammad Shami was the pick of the bowlers for India with three wickets for 38 runs.

India lost Rahane early for just 8 runs but Kohli and Dhawan stitched a good partnership. On the halfway mark, India were 89 for 1 and were cruising towards the win, but England made a strong comeback and stemmed the flow of runs, Eventually, India needed 17 off the last over with MS Dhoni at the crease, and Chris Woakes managed to get England over the line by just three runs.

3. India vs England – only T20i, Manchester, 2011

This famous match is remembered for the legendary batsman Rahul Dravid, who could do nothing wrong on the tour except not being on the winning side. India lost the test series 4-0 to England but one man had all answers to England’s excellent bowling and it was Dravid as he amassed 461 runs in the four tests to bag the man of the series award. After being dropped from the Indian ODI side, Dravid was named again in the ODI and T20 squads after two years.

Dravid announced his retirement from the limited-overs games after the England series after he was named and became the only T20 batsman to make his debut and play his last game in the same match. The match saw blistering innings from Rahane at the top with a 61 while Dravid hit three consecutive sixes of Samit Patel. England needed to chase down India’s score of 165 and they did it in style with 6 wickets in hands and three deliveries remaining.

2. India vs England – Twenty 20 Worldcup, London, 2o09

The defending champions India were carrying a lot of hopes and expectations from the fans for the second T20 World Cup but it didn’t turn out to be the way they would have liked to. England batted first and posted a decent score of 153 on the board while India with their strong batting order would have fancied their chances to chase down the total.

India in reply couldn’t get going and were losing wickets at regular intervals. The idea to send Ravindra Jadeja up the order did not reap rewards as he struggled and finished with 25 in 35 balls at a strike rate of 71.43. Despite the late efforts from Skipper MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan, England emerged victorious by just 3 runs which knocked India out of the World Cup.

1. India vs England – Twenty Worldcup, Durban, 2007

Perhaps the best out of the lot was the match against England in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007 which started the momentum and did not end until the final win against Pakistan. The Durban crowd saw some incredible hitting on display and Yuvraj Singh will go down as one of the chief architects for the memories of the game. This was also the first meeting between the two teams in a T20 international.

Yuvraj Singh became the first batsman in history to hit six sixes in an over in a T20 international as he pummelled Stuart Broad all over the ground. Herschelle Gibbs did it on the 50 over 2007 Worldcup against Netherlands and Yuvraj became the second batsman in international cricket to achieve the landmark. Yuvraj’s exchange of few words with Flintoff before the over would have surely awakened the brutal force in the left-hander and the umpire had to cool him down.

Yuvraj’s half-century in just 12 balls was the fastest fifty in international cricket and still remains the same while Gayle has equalled the record. His stunning innings propelled India to a huge score of 218 for four. In reply, England gave a scare with a good start but eventually lost the match by just 18 runs and the win revived the hopes of India’s qualification for the semi-finals.