Jos Buttler conceded England "weren't quite capable" of enforcing themselves in their opening T20I against India in Kolkata.

The hosts drew first blood in the five-match series as they chased down their target of 132 for a dominant seven-wicket win at Eden Gardens on Friday.

Victory was sealed with 43 balls to spare, making it England's heaviest T20I defeat in terms of deliveries remaining.

Despite Buttler's impressive knock of 68 off 44 balls, India's spinners were the scourge of England - just like in their last T20I in Guyana last year (6-58) - as they recorded figures of 5-67.

And the England skipper hopes for a positive response to the defeat in what was Brendon McCullum's first match in charge of the white-ball side.

"There was a little bit in the wicket early on, and we probably didn't expect that," Buttler told TNT Sports. 

"I thought they found a bit of movement early on, and if you come through that, it is a good scoring pitch and fast ground here. You want to enforce the game you want to play, and we weren't quite capable of doing that today.

"We are better for the run-out and are looking forward to the next one. We want to be aggressive, we want to be watchable, and we are up against a team who are ultra-aggressive as well."

India took two wickets in the opening three overs, and Suryakumar Yadav believes the quick start was crucial for the Men in Blue.

"I think the energy and the way we started after the toss set the benchmark," he said. "We took it from there, with all the bowlers having their own plans and executing that. Then, the batting was the icing on the cake."

Defeat in Kolkata.

We will look to bounce back in the second T20I in Chennai. pic.twitter.com/g8q1holJo1

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 22, 2025