KOLKATA: England coach Brendon McCullum said Monday he hopes his side emerge from a host of limited overs matches against India in “good shape” for the upcoming Champions Trophy.

The tourists, led by Jos Buttler, will face India in the first of five T20 internationals at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on Wednesday.

The India series marks England’s first limited-overs tour under McCullum, previously in charge only of the Test side.

“I’m desperate for us to play a really watchable brand of cricket,” McCullum told reporters. “With the talent we have, there’s no reason we can’t.”

The teams will play three ODIs, before they move into the eight-team ODI Champions Trophy starting February 19 in Pakistan and Dubai.

“We’ll use the next few weeks to try and hit the ground running, I’m sure there will be some times where we don’t quite get it right. But, hopefully, we will chisel away at that over the next few weeks, and we’ll be in good shape come that Champions Trophy.”

The 43-year-old McCullum said Buttler, who will only play as a batsman and not keep wicket on the tour, will leave a lasting legacy as England’s white-ball leader.

“He’s in a really good space, he’s excited about the team we’ve got, and excited about the opportunity that sits in front of us,” the former New Zealand skipper said. “I’m sure we’ll see Jos over the next couple of years really enjoy himself, and hopefully finish with a real strong enjoyment for the game at the back end of his career.”

But India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, remain the favourites on home turf — and have been boosted by the return of fast bowler Mohammed Shami after he recovered from a foot injury.

Shami, 34, last played for India in the ODI World Cup final in 2023 and recently participated in a few domestic games to return to competitive cricket.

“It’s a really good sign for us,” India’s T20 vice-captain Axar Patel said. “We hope he continues what he did in the World Cup.”

Axar said India will operate with a flexible middle order during the series. India have tended to pack their batting line-up with “floaters” such as Axar.

The all-rounder said only openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma could expect to have a fixed batting slot.

“…the openers are fixed but everyone from numbers three to seven have been told that they can come into bat anytime, in any situation,” Axar said.

“Our middle order will come to bat depending on the match situation, what kind of bowlers are bowling at the time, which match-up works well.

“We’ve spoken about that, how we can all be floaters, be it coming in early or obviously finishing.

“In T20 Internationals, how you use your batters is so crucial, so this is an important factor in batting.”

Hardik Pandya, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Rinku Singh have often had their batting positions changed in India’s recent games.

While 50-overs cricket remains their priority with the Champions Trophy looming, Axar said India were already planning their title defence at next year’s T20 World Cup, which they will co-host with Sri Lanka.

“The World Cup is coming up in a year so how we approach leading up to that, we want to try it from now itself. That’s the main target,” Axar said.

Published in Dawn, January 21st, 2025