England cricket team Photo: AP/Ricardo Mazalan England cricket team Photo: AP/Ricardo Mazalan

Indian Cricket team and the visiting England squad touched down in Kolkata on Saturday evening ahead of their series-opening T20I on Wednesday. The iconic Eden Gardens is set to host its first T20I in nearly three yearsmcw casino, with a slight chill in the air adding to the excitement as cricket fever sweeps the city once again. (More Cricket News)

VIDEO | England cricket team arrived in Kolkata earlier today for first T20I against India, scheduled to be held at Eden Gardens on January 22.#ENGvsIND #IndiavsEngland(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/CIvfcUzafx

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 18, 2025

The series kicks off with the Eden T20I and features a full white-ball schedule, including five T20Is and three ODIs. This series will be a crucial warm-up for the Champions Trophy, which begins on February 19 in Pakistan and Dubai.

Indian also started arriving in batches, with players coming in from their respective hometowns. Rising stars Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh were among the early arrivals, landing in Kolkata at 4:30 pm.

VIDEO | Indian cricket team arrived in Kolkata earlier today for first T20I against England, scheduled to be held at Eden Gardens on January 22.#ENGvsIND #IndiavsEngland(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/ACDzU31uDA

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 18, 2025

Liam Livingstone, fresh from his time with Pretoria Capitals in the ongoing SA20, was the first to arrive, flying in directly from South Africa. Later in the evening, the rest of the England squad, led by Jos Buttler, arrived after training in Dubai.

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Captain Suryakumar Yadav arrived later, accompanied by Tilak Varma, who shared a photo of the duo on their flight in his Instagram story. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and the rest of the squad followed later in the evening.

Mohammed Shami, making his international comeback after 14 months, and all-rounder Hardik Pandya expected to arrive around midnight, according to the local team manager.

Following the Kolkata match, the teams will travel to Chennai for the second T20I on January 25, with the five-match series concluding in Mumbai on February 2. The ODI series will follow, with matches in Nagpur on February 6, Cuttack on February 9, and Ahmedabad on February 12.

India enter the series on the back of a dominant 3-1 win over South Africa in their previous T20I series, led by Suryakumar Yadav. Rohit Sharma will return to captain the ODI squad, which was announced in Mumbai on Saturday along with India’s Champions Trophy roster.

Eden Gardens, which last hosted an international match during the ODI World Cup clash between Australia and South Africa on November 16, 2023, will be hosting its first international match since that event. The last T20I here took place on February 20, 2022, when India faced the West Indies.

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) is anticipating a full-capacity crowd for the series opener.

"With a bit of chill in the air and the festive season just behind us, it’s the perfect time to enjoy cricket," said CAB president Snehasish Ganguly. "The response for tickets has been overwhelming, with queues stretching all the way to the High Court when counter sales began. We’re expecting a full house for the match."

To make the occasion even more special, the CAB has planned a special felicitation ceremony on Monday evening. The event will honor the Under-15 women’s champions and the senior women’s team, who finished as runners-up in both the domestic T20 and one-day tournaments.

Former India captain Mithali Raj will be the chief guest, joined by iconic city legends Sourav Ganguly and Jhulan Goswami. The CAB is also hopeful that the presence of Indian T20I skipper Suryakumar Yadav will add further star power to the evening.

With PTI Inputs

Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey expressed his enthusiasm and stated: "This bilateral series against Germany will be a remarkable showcase of world-class hockey. Both India and Germany have a rich history in the sportmcw casino, and this series will give fans an opportunity to witness an intense competition between two of the most formidable teams in the world.