Remember the game? What happened when England last played a T20I at Eden Gardens

The England men’s cricket team is in India for a limited-overs tour. They will play five T20Is and three ODIs to prepare for the all-important ICC Champions Trophy 2025. 

They would begin their tour with the first match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. England don't have sweet memories of that stadium, having lost not one but two World Cup finals here.

So what happened when the English team was in Kolkata the last time to play a T20I? 

It is not often that a commentary line is remembered more than the game itself in cricket. However, we have heard some of the most iconic lines in recent years, especially during the World Cup finals. 

Be it Ravi Shastri’s iconic ‘Dhoni finishes it in style’ line after MS Dhoni’s six to seal the 2011 ODI World Cup or Jatin Sapru’s irritatingly sweet but hysterical shout of ‘Long off, Long off’ when Suryakumar Yadav caught David Miller and India won the 2026 T20 World Cup. 

However, when it comes to the best lines, none can arguably top Ian Bishop’s ‘Remember the name…Carlos Brathwaite’, which echoed not just through the TV Screens but reverberated across the Eden Gardens as almost impossible was achieved by Brathwaite in 2016 at the Mecca of Indian cricket in Kolkata. 

The match was the 2016 T20 World Cup final, and England, the best team in the tournament until the very last over, was up against Daren Sammy's West Indies.

The Eoin Morgan-led side lost only their opening match and won the rest to reach the final. West Indies, on the other hand, lost even to Afghanistan and never really looked convincing enough. 

Even in the final, after restricting England to 155/9 in their 20 overs, they found themselves struggling big time at 107/6 in the 16th over. Needing 49 to win from 27 balls, Brathwaite joined Marlon Samuels in the middle. 

All the big guns were back in the hut and the duo at the middle also stuttered, collecting 7, 7, 11 and 8 runs in overs 16, 17, 18 and 19 respectively to need an impossible-looking 19 off the final six balls to win the match. 

And the impossible happened as Brathwaite smashed the ball all around the park hitting Ben Stokes for four consecutive sixes, leaving England shellshocked and sending the crowd into delirium. 

That was England's last T20I game at Eden Gardens, and after nine years, they will play yet another one at the same venue, although the stakes will be nowhere near as high as they were in 2016. 

England also lost an ODI World Cup final at the same venue very closely by six runs against Australia in 1987.  

However, it is not only about losses, as England won their only T20I against India at this venue back in 2011.