India, England Arrive In Kolkata For T20I Opener At Eden Gardens

The world champions, Team India, and the visiting England squad arrived in batches on Saturday evening ahead of their series-opening T20I here on Wednesday. With a slight nip in the air, cricket fever is set to grip Kolkata once again as the iconic Eden Gardens prepares to host its first T20 International in nearly three years. Beginning with the Eden T20I, the two teams will fight it out in a full white ball series, consisting five T20Is and three ODIs, which will serve as a crucial warm-up for the Champions Trophy, slated to begin on February 19 in Pakistan and Dubai.

English all-rounder Liam Livingstone, fresh from his stint with Pretoria Capitals in the ongoing SA20, was the first to check in, flying directly from South Africa.

The Jos Buttler-led rest of the England squad, which had been training in Dubai, arrived later in the evening.

Being a fresh series, Team India players also trickled in from their respective hometowns.

Rising stars Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh were among the first to arrive in Kolkata at 4:30 pm.

Later in the evening, captain Suryakumar Yadav landed along with Tilak Varma, who shared a photo of the duo sitting together on the flight in his Instagram story.

Head coach Gautam Gambhir and rest of the players checked in later in the evening.

Making his international comeback after more than 14 months, pacer Mohammed Shami and all-rounder Hardik Pandya are slated to land around midnight, said the local team manager.

Both teams will have three training sessions ahead of the opening T20I.

The England squad is scheduled for an afternoon practice session on Sunday, while Team India will take the field in the evening.

From here the teams will travel to Chennai for the second T20I (January 25) and