England vs India 2018: 5 talking points as India beat England by 8 wickets

The much-awaited series between England and India kicked off in Manchester and the visitors almost sauntered to a win without even breaking a sweat.

Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bowl first and England made the initial few statements. 50 runs in the first five overs, Jason Roy was dismissed, spin was introduced and the hosts slipped.

Kuldeep Yadav breathed fire, picked up five wickets, Umesh Yadav chipped in with two wickets and after a blazing start England could only manage 159 runs.

Shikhar Dhawan was sent back in the first over, and then KL Rahul walked in and put up an absolute treat with his sumptuous stroke-making. His 100-run partnership with Rohit Sharma ensured India had no hiccups as they cruised to the title with eight wickets to spare.

#5 England and their typical rapid start

It has almost become synonymous with English cricket in the limited overs format. They bat first, the openers stride out and then start smacking the new ball around as if they do not have a care in the world.

After the Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and elected the bowl first, Jason Roy and jos Buttler walked out for the hosts. Roy took a couple of balls to get his eye in and then got cracking.

He punched the ball towards point even it was a smidgen short, waltzed across the stumps to clip a length ball away towards mid-wicket, and then used his arms and reach to smash the ball over covers and mid off.

Jos Buttler walked across, kept his bat down and then scooped the full ball over Dhoni as his first scoring stroke and then it got him going.

When Umesh Yadav got rid of Jason Roy as he was trying to pull a length ball away, England were well on the way with 50 runs in the first five overs. Just the start any side would want on a bright sunny day and on a flat flaccid surface!

#4 Mixed bag for the Indian seamers

The pitch was flat, the sun was blazing down, the conditions were dry, nothing was in the corner of the fast bowlers, but despite all this, the Indian seamers had a rather mixed bag out in the centre.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar did not threatening and sprayed the ball around places and only in his final over did he look anywhere close to what we expect of him.

In his four over, he gave away 45 runs and got no wickets in return.

On the other hand, Umesh Yadav was on point and after a rather indifferent start, he came back strongly and picked up not only two wickets, but also gave away just 21 runs.

Hardik Pandya was sedate in his quota of fours and gave away 33 runs and picked up just a solitary wicket.

#3 Jos Buttler's red-hot form

Everytime he walks out to bat, he scores runs, that white ball looks more like a hapless piece of tool which is destined to be whacked away.

Jos Buttler has been in sensational form in the recent man and has been the talisman for England off late.

He started his innings with a scoop off a full ball on the stumps and then never looked back, almost sprinted away to his half-century.

There is form and then there is this; he has scored seven scores of more than 50 in his last eight innings.

Enthralling and Buttler was absolutely exhilarating!

#2 KL Rahul slams century; Rohit Sharma supports

India were chasing down 160, which is not daunting by any means but can be tricky. The pitch was on the slower side, and Shikhar Dhawan departed early when the score read seven.

Out walked KL Rahul, perhaps the best batsman in the just-concluded Indian Premier League. Chris Jordan pitched the ball on a length outside off, Rahul was one knee and then timed it clean over covers. Just the aesthetic beginning one associates with Rahul and this was just the way he kicked off.

Flicks, reverse sweeps, drives, pulls, and much more, 50 of the very best runs, 100-run partnership was raised, and then there was Rohit Sharma was just turning over the strike, he too played few awe-inspiring stroke.

However, it was a batting masterclass from KL Rahul who was not partial to any part of the the ground and he was out in full display in the 11th over of the innings against Liam Plunkett.

He flicked the ball over square leg, then opened up and creamed a drive over covers, then swivelled and pulled one past long leg and then rounded off the over with a sumptuous pull over square leg.

Well, and he slammed his second century in T20Is off 52 balls, an innings of absolute command.

#1 Kuldeep Yadav, MVP

As has been the story with England cricket over the past 15 months, they got off to a blazing start courtesy Jason Roy and Jos Buttler.

When Roy got out in the fifth over, the score read 50, and England were all set to cruise past 200. And, then Kuldeep was introduced the game went south for the hosts.

He tossed the ball up, got drift, got purchase, spun it both ways and England were all over the shop. They played their strokes, were defeated, they attempted to play few gallant strokes, were defeated.

Kuldeep ended with five wickets, scripted history and the hosts were stopped at 159.