Watch: Ex-KKR teammates Gautam Gambhir, Brendon McCullum share heartwarming moment at Eden Gardens
Published - 22 Jan 2025, 08:29 PM | Updated - 22 Jan 2025, 11:37 PM
India and England are currently playing against each other in the first T20I of the five-match series. The match is taking place at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
And while both the teams were gearing up to face each other on the field, their head coaches got the opportunity for a reunion. India head coach Gautam Gambhir and his England counterpart Brendon McCullum shared a warm moment with each other just before the start of the game.
Both of them were busy talking with their teams before Gautam Gambhir spotted McCullum. As soon as the former India opener saw McCullum, he ran towards him before the two hugged each other.
Also Read: Arshdeep Singh creates history, becomes India's all-time leading wicket-taker in T20Is
Gambhir and McCullum had shared the dressing room for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL more than a decade ago. In 2012 and 2013, McCullum plied his trade for the Kolkata-based outfit under Gambhir's captaincy.
Here is a clip of the heartwarming moment between Gautam Gambhir and Brendon McCullum:
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Gautam Gambhir's India in driver's seat:
Talking about the game, India are in complete control of the first T20I. At the time of writing this report, England were reeling at 94/5 after 13 overs with their captain Jos Buttler waging a lone battle. Buttler was unbeaten on 60 and giving him company was Jamie Overton (2*).
The game started in a brilliant fashion for the Men in Blue after their captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl first. Arshdeep Singh gave the home side a flying start by dismissing the dangerous Phil Salt for a duck in the first over.
In the third over, Arshdeep struck again, removing Ben Duckett to reduce England to 17/2. Duckett's wicket also made Arshdeep India's all-time leading wicket-taker in the shortest format of the game.
Buttler and Harry Brook then shared a 48-run stand with the former scoring the bulk of the runs during the partnership. Varun Chakravarthy broke the stand by dismissing Harry Brook for 17 runs in the eighth over. In the same over, the right-arm spinner also dismissed Liam Livingstone for a duck to leave England 4 down for 65.
Jacob Bethell did not last long either as he departed after scoring 7 runs off 14 balls. He was dismissed by Hardik Pandya.
