England face daunting India series as McCullum ushers in new white-ball era

When named England’s Test coach in 2022, Brendon McCullum explained he didn’t want it easy. The white-ball job was a “cushy kind of gig” that wasn’t of interest, his pal Eoin Morgan having run that crew so well. World champions and clearing 400 with the bat, what could he change there? Reviving a long‑form team burnt by the pandemic Ashes was actual work and therefore attractive to McCullum.

That he now must take pity on the white-ball setup tells us plenty. Five Twenty20 internationals and three one-dayers in India mark McCullum’s full takeover of England men’s cricket, the tour a preface to the Champions Trophy next month in Pakistan (and the United Arab Emirates should they play India).

This job could be tougher than the one he already had. The Test side McCullum took on had accrued one win in 17, but most of those matches came away from home. A pick-up in results was always likely in his first summer, even if he went on to exceed expectations, and the conservatism of the Test team meant McCullum’s more enterprising imprint was always going to be seen quickly.

England have been a middling T20 side for the past two years and a poor 50-over team, their last series win in the format predating a dire World Cup defence in 2023. The answers to the decay do not feel entirely obvious, unlike when Morgan took control as captain a decade ago: it was clear then that they just needed to give it a whack. That’s the McCullum way, too, but power and aggression is not something the team lacks. In two one-day international series losses last year, England remained the fastest run-scorers in the world, rattling along at more than six an over.

Perhaps it is with the bowling, then, where McCullum intends to make a more visible effect. His squad for the next couple of months suggests a need for grunge‑ish pace: breaking through in the mid-80s (mph), exploding in the 90s. Mark Wood and Jofra Archer are joined by Brydon Carse, having a breakout winter, and Gus Atkinson, who can be erratic with his speeds but has express within.

Saqib Mahmood, impressive in the T20s against West Indies late last year, completes the stable though his tour preparations were disrupted by what is fast becoming an annual tradition, that of a British‑Pakistani cricketer enduring delays in getting a visa for India. There is no room on this tour for the cutters of Sam Curran, swing of Reece Topley or stamina of Matt Potts. All three have average speeds in the low-80s.

England’s Jofra Archer takes off his head gear after a practice session. Photograph: Bikas Das/AP

“Pace just adds that little bit of uncomfortableness for the opposition and allows a bit more margin for error too,” McCullum said on Monday. “It also gives the chance to potentially blow teams away if you get on top.”

To maintain explosive pace, in a tightly scheduled two months, requires some rotation but McCullum also needs to quickly find a first-choice XI heading into a major tournament. England have struggled with this in recent years, hindered by a busy Test calendar that takes priority and forces the white-ball sides to field reserves.

An additional complication is the warm-up for a 50-over tournament beginning with five 20-over games; Jos Buttler will take the No 3 role in that format but will presumably make way for Joe Root when it comes to the one-dayers. Where will Buttler, relinquished of the gloves, bat in the ODIs? Where does Jamie Smith fit in? Can Jamie Overton solve the awkward role at No 7? Answers are required before entry into Pakistan.

India’s T20 squad is radically different to the names selected for the one-dayers, when the more storied names – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah – return. But depth is rarely an issue here and Sharma and Kohli have been replaced with little trouble following their T20 retirements after the World Cup win last year in the Caribbean.

A fresh top three of Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma have six T20 international centuries between them in that period. They may even welcome the extra English pace at Eden Gardens, which hosted the highest successful T20 run chase last April, a Jonny Bairstow hundred helping Punjab Kings to score 262 with eight wickets to spare against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.

India have won 13 out of 15 since lifting the trophy in Barbados, done with seven totals north of 200, including a staggering 297 for six in a 133-run win against Bangladesh in October. Those numbers are daunting, surely even for someone as relentlessly optimistic as McCullum. A cushy gig? Not any more.