10 iconic moments from India-England T20Is
India and England have faced each other 14 times in T20Is, with both sides winning seven matches apiece.
England’s resurgence as a white-ball unit under Eoin Morgan in the last few years has seen them ascend to the numero uno spot in the ICC T20I Rankings. But India aren’t too far behind, as they occupy the second spot. In fact, India have a better win-loss ratio in T20Is than England in the past six years.
Ten memorable T20I moments between India and England:
Ahead of the 5-T20I series between the two cricketing giants, which kicks off in Ahmedabad on Friday, let's have a look at ten iconic moments in T20Is between India and England.
#1 Yuvraj Singh’s 6 sixes | 2007 T20 World Cup Super 8s (Durban)
Amid the Virender Sehwag - Gautam Gambhir carnage (136 runs in 14.4 overs) up front, James Anderson bowled a miserly spell of 4-0-25-0 for England.
Kevin Pietersen and the England batters kept everyone at the edge of their seats. India's left-arm pace duo of RP Singh and Irfan Pathan were left to do the damage control. But there’s not much of these moments that you remember, right?
On that September day in Durban, it was all about Yuvraj Singh. A fiery argument with Andrew Flintoff left the Indian left-hander fuming, and he went on to let off his steam on a young Stuart Broad.
Yuvraj Singh blazed six sixes off a Broad over, marking only the second such instance in international cricket. Even if first-Class and international cricket are combined, Yuvraj Singh is the only batsman to achieve the feat against a fast bowler. His 12-ball 50 in that match remains the fastest in T20Is.
India won the match by 18 runs, and five days later, they went on to lift the inaugural T20 World Cup.
#2 Ajinkya Rahane makes a blistering debut for India | Manchester (2011)
Now a Test specialist, Ajinkya Rahane made a blistering T20I debut for India in Manchester in 2011.
It was the first format he played for India. Opening the batting, Rahane took on the English bowlers, stroking an attractive 39-ball 61.
Rahane cut and pulled with authority, and there was also a lot of wrist at play. For a debutant, he made a big impression that day.
Rahane's 61 remains the highest score by a Team India debutant in T20Is.
#3 Rahul Dravid takes on Samit Patel | Manchester (2011)
Alongside Rahane, there was another debutant for India in that Manchester game in 2011 - a certain Rahul Dravid.
Not known for his six-hitting prowess, the then 38-year-old smashed left-arm spinner Samit Patel for a hat-trick of sixes in an over, hitting all of them on the leg-side.
However, Ajinkya Rahane’s 61 and Rahul Dravid’s 21-ball 31 weren’t enough to prevent an India defeat. England chased down India’s total of 165 with three balls to spare.
Rahul Dravid, incidentally, retired from limited-overs cricket after the England tour of 2011.
#4 Eoin Morgan hits a last-ball six to take England home | Mumbai (2012)
After losing the Test series 2-1, India came back strong, winning the first T20I.
In a see-saw second game in Mumbai, momentum oscillated wildly between one side and the other.
Batting first, India scored 177 after Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni bailed the team out. A young Jos Buttler joined England captain Eoin Morgan at the crease, with the visitors needing 29 runs off 13 balls.
The penultimate over from Parvinder Awana went for 14 runs, which brought down the equation to nine off six. Ashoke Dinda produced five very good deliveries, conceding only six. With three required off the last ball, Dinda faltered, and Morgan made him pay.
Eoin Morgan prepared to play the ramp shot before Dinda pulled out, which further added to the nerve-racking drama. Missing a yorker, Dinda bowled a full delivery, which the England captain sent into the second tier of the Wankhede Stadium’s North Stand.
In the process, England pulled off their then-highest successful T20I run chase.
#5 MS Dhoni denies three singles to Ambati Rayudu, India lose the match | Birmingham (2014)
Another Eoin Morgan special (71 off 31) propelled England to 180 in the Birmingham T20I in 2014.
India had the chase under control, with Virat Kohli coming out, all guns blazing. When Kohli fell in the 15th over, India required 50 off 34 balls with eight wickets in hand. With the likes of Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja to come, the chase seemed like a cakewalk for India.
With wickets tumbling at one end, Dhoni failed to get going, which added to India's woes. In a bid to farm more strike, Dhoni inexplicably refused as many as three singles to a specialist batsman - Rayudu - in the last seven balls, and India ended up losing the match by three runs.
Dhoni would later reason that he was better placed to find the ropes, having spent more time in the middle. Nevertheless, the tactics baffled everyone and drew widespread criticism.
Earlier, England scored a whopping 81 runs off their last five overs, while India managed a paltry 42.
#6 Jasprit Bumrah bowls an incredible spell at the death | Nagpur (2017)
After winning the first game, a strong England team were on the brink of sealing the 2016-17 series against India in the second game.
Chasing 145, the Englishmen needed 32 runs off the last four overs with seven wickets in hand. Joe Root and Ben Stokes, both in their 30s, were at the crease.
Then the drama started. Ashish Nehra dismissed Stokes in a five-ball over before Jasprit Bumrah took over. He produced a fabulous three-run over against Jos Buttler and Joe Root to up the pressure on England.
Buttler responded by smashing Nehra for 16 runs in the next, which meant Bumrah had a near-impossible task of defending eight against the dangerous Buttler and the well-set Root.
Only a year into international cricket, Bumrah bowled one of the most remarkable final overs to help India level the series 1-1.
Root was dismissed leg-before off the first ball. Moeen Ali got a single. Buttler missed a slow off-cutter before he was cleaned up on the next ball. Chris Jordan managed a run off a bye. With six needed off the last ball to tie the game, Moeen Ali swung at thin air as India sealed a thrilling win.
#7 Yuzvendra Chahal announces himself with an imperious 6-for | Bengaluru (2017)
After levelling the 2016-17 T20I series in Nagpur, India put up a good batting show in the next game in Bengaluru, posting 202 on the board.
Recently relieved from captaincy, MS Dhoni registered his maiden T20I fifty, with the match also marking the debut of Rishabh Pant.
England started their chase well, reaching 119 inside 14 overs before Yuzvendra Chahal dismissed the dangerous Eoin Morgan. In the span of 19 balls, England lost eight wickets for as many runs to be skittled out for127.
In a way, it was a home ground of sorts for Yuzvendra Chahal, who was already a vital cog for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Playing his sixth T20I, Chahal registered 6 for 25, the then-best figures by an Indian in T20Is.
In the process, Chahal became only the second player, after Ajantha Mendis, to claim a 6-for in T20Is as India won the series 2-1.
#8 Kuldeep Yadav bamboozles England | Manchester (2018)
England had raced to 50 inside five overs before Kuldeep Yadav spun a web in the T20I in Manchester in 2018.
In the 14th over of the game, the left-arm wrist-spinner accounted for the wickets of Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root to swing the game firmly in India’s favour.
He claimed a five-form with his two other wickets being that of Alex Hales and Chris Jordan. The mighty England batting unit was restricted to 159, and India romped home with almost three overs to spare to take a 1-0 series lead.
#9 KL Rahul deflates England with a belligerent hundred | Manchester (2018)
In that same T20I in Manchester in 2018, following Kuldeep Yadav’s heroics with the ball, KL Rahul delivered an imperious final punch.
In a selfless move, Virat Kohli dropped himself to no. 4 to maximise Rahul’s explosive hitting prowess, and the Karnataka batsman delivered big time.
Free-flowing, fearless and aesthetic, Rahul blazed his way to a belligerent hundred to join Rohit Sharma as the only Indian players to score multiple hundreds in T20Is.
#10 The Rohit Sharma show | Bristol (2018)
England levelled the 2018 T20I series with a win in Cardiff.
In the series decider, led by a 31-ball 67 from Jason Roy, England posted 198 on the board. But cometh the hour, cometh the Hitman.
Rohit Sharma went one up on KL Rahul by adding to his century tally in T20Is. Producing a typically blistering innings, the right-hander joined Colin Munro as the only batsman in T20Is to score three hundreds. Since then, Rohit Sharma has scored another later that year.
Sharma shared an unbeaten 50-run stand off just 23 balls with Hardik Pandya for the fourth wicket to see India home. He bagged the Player of the Match and the Player of the Series award as India won a T20I series for the first time in England.