McCullum has destroyed England’s meek mindset with one team selection ...Middle East

England’s team for their opening Twenty20 international against India on Wednesday was a statement of aggressive intent from Brendon McCullum in his first match as white-ball coach.

As well as pairing Jofra Archer and Mark Wood together in a bowling attack that starts at No 7 with Jamie Overton, Ben Duckett has been chosen to open alongside Phil Salt and the exciting talent of Jacob Bethell will be unleashed at No 6 against the world champions in Kolkata.

Even the act of naming the XI 24 hours out from the start of the match was a bullish signal that things will be very different under McCullum’s leadership of England’s white-ball teams.

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This is something the Test team have made a habit of since the New Zealander combined with captain Ben Stokes at the start of the 2022 summer.

Now it is to be hoped that England’s style on the field will reflect this new mentality as it has done in the longest format, with the accent on positivity giving the players the freedom to produce their best performances more often than not.

This is something that drove England to glory in the 50-over World Cup on home soil in 2019 under former captain Eoin Morgan.

However, somewhere in between Morgan’s resignation midway through a series against the Netherlands in June 2022 and the end of England’s horrendous World Cup defence in India the following year, the magic was lost from the white-ball set-up.

The rot was allowed to set in under Australian coach Matthew Mott.

Jos Buttler, Morgan’s successor as captain, was unable to turn the tide of negativity.

Now backed by his close friend in McCullum, this is a fresh start for Buttler as England as set off on a new journey whose significant waypoints are next month’s Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka before the final destination ­­– the 2027 ODI World Cup in southern Africa – is reached.

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Naming Harry Brook as Buttler’s vice-captain, replacing the retired Moeen Ali, was also significant and points the way to a clear plan of succession in the leadership group.

Clarity, especially in his messaging to players, is another McCullum trademark.

Yet this is about more than just the white-ball set-up.

This is an early signal of intent from the coach he is going to attack a year that includes huge Test series against India and Australia with everything he has got.

This is no more so than in the selection of Archer and Wood for Wednesday’s opening T20 at Eden Gardens.

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This is a fast-bowling combination McCullum would dearly love to have at his disposal for the opening Ashes Test at Perth that starts on 21 November.

Archer has some work to do yet to get back on the field in Test cricket given he last played the format in early 2021.

This summer’s home series against India will be significant in that respect.

But seeing England’s two quickest bowlers in tandem again is a mouth-watering prospect and McCullum will only be too aware this was also a pairing that was integral to the 2019 World Cup win.

His comments on Monday that he would not wrap either in cotton wool this year was another significant statement.

The English mindset is often to fear the worst.

It is a way of thinking that is alien to McCullum, whose mantra is to encourage his players to “run towards the danger”.

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There will be steps taken behind the scenes to ensure all of England’s multi-format bowlers are looked after this year.

But a coach who only ever looks at the potential upsides of bold calls is not going to die wondering this year.

That was evident in Bethell’s selection at No 3 for the tour of New Zealand before Christmas.

The 21-year-old is back again here with a chance to build on his tour of the Caribbean late last year that saw him hit three half-centuries against the West Indies across the T20 and ODI series.

His form and runs will be noted eagerly by Ollie Pope, only too aware his rival for the No 3 position in the Test team next summer has another chance to impress McCullum at close quarters.

For this five-match T20 series, going all-in on bold calls makes sense.

The venues, particularly Kolkata for the first match, tend to be tailor-made for batting and this promises to be a tough few weeks for the bowlers on both sides.

A vibrant, new-look India team led by Suryakumar Yadav has seen batting icons Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma depart since the World Cup.

But they have become even more eye-catching, scoring totals of 200 or more in seven of the 11 T20s they have batted first in since that win in the Caribbean.

It promises to be a cracking series with both teams going toe-to-toe.

England expects. But McCullum knows this is only the beginning of a huge year that promises to define his legacy as coach.

England’s team to face India

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