The Athletic has launched a Cricket WhatsApp Channel. Click here to join.It could not have been more emphatic. England, who went into the series in the midst of crisis on and off the field after their Test series defeat to New Zealand, thrashed T20 world champions India 4-0, with the other game abandoned, and replaced their opponents on top of the world rankings.Here Paul Newman looks at how England pulled off a series victory that was as unexpected as it was one-sided.The complete performanceWhen India thrashed New Zealand in March to win their second successive T20 world title, The Athletic posed the question whether anyone could compete with them in the short-form of the game that now dominates world cricket.Little did we know they would be so comprehensively beaten not only in their first major T20 series since then but also in two ‘warm-up’ matches against Ireland that preceded it.India and Abhishek Sharma enduring a trying tour (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)These were, in the words of England’s most successful T20 batter Jos Buttler after his sublime century in the final match at Southampton on Saturday, “the most complete England performances I’ve ever been involved in”.The margins of victory tell the tale. After the first game at Durham was rained off with the match in the balance after India had scored 189-7, England have got better and better.They won the second at Old Trafford by four wickets with an over in hand thanks to Jacob Bethell’s unbeaten 76, then dismissed India for just 76 in the third game at Trent Bridge in reply to 201-7, with four wickets for Josh Tongue.The fourth game saw England romp home by nine wickets with 6.1 overs to spare at Bristol with an unbeaten second wicket stand of 146 between captain Harry Brook and Phil Salt and then, perhaps best of all, they won the final match at the Utilita Bowl by 56 runs after a world-record stand of 233 between Buttler and Brook.India simply had no answer.Jos Buttler (right) is congratulated by England captain Harry Brook after bringing up a 51-ball century in Southampton (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)Captain fantasticBrook went into the series with doubts growing over his suitability to succeed Ben Stokes, who retired after defeat by New Zealand and a late-night drinking controversy, as Test captain. Brook’s skittish performance in the final Test at Trent Bridge that saw him slog 21 off nine balls — New Zealand wicketkeeper Tom Blundell was caught by the stump mic loudly exclaiming, “What are they doing?” — appeared to be another example of the white-ball captain’s immaturity.But what a T20 series Brook had, leading with authority and imagination and making an unbeaten 79 off 35 balls in Bristol before his 95 not out off 45 in Southampton.England have now won 18 of the 24 T20 matches since Brook replaced Buttler as white-ball captain and the new leader has also developed a strong bond with under-pressure coach Brendon McCullum that, intriguingly, could be replicated in the Test arena.Harry Brook was in prolific form with the bat, and proved an imaginative captain (Dan Istitene/Getty Images)McCullum, who can only have seen his position strengthened by this outclassing of India, left no doubts as to his belief in Brook when he assessed the best white-ball results since Rob Key took the controversial decision to make him England coach in all formats.“I’ve always been very affectionate towards Harry,” McCullum told reporters in Southampton. “I consider him not just a good mate but almost like one of my sons. He hasn’t always got everything right and he’s made mistakes off the field, but the growth we’ve seen from him over the last 12 months or so has been immense.“He’s very well respected in the dressing room as a leader and tactician and obviously as a player, but he’s growing at unbelievable speed. I thoroughly enjoy working with him and I feel we get the best out of each other. I’m sure that will continue.”The big question is whether it will continue at Test level when England face Pakistan next month with the ECB taking time to reflect before they make their next move.McCullum refused to be drawn when The Athletic asked him whether the workload would just be too much for Brook to become Test as well as white-ball captain. “Respectfully to the T20 side, we sit here as No 1 in the world and have scaled the summit of what we wanted to achieve in this series, so I don’t want to speak about anything other than that at the moment,” he said.“India have been top of the T20 rankings for, what, 1,600 days? So this is an incredible achievement. This is something we want to celebrate and allow to land because it’s very difficult to do. We’ll let it sink in and then start plotting and planning for stuff outside of this.”Brendon McCullum (right) has forged a strong relationship with captain Harry Brook (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)A captain already under pressureIt seemed brutal when India sacked Suryakumar Yadav as captain immediately after they won the World Cup and replaced him with Shreyas Iyer — the reasoning being that, at 35, Yadav would not be around for the next T20 World Cup in 2028 and rebuilding had to start.But it looks even more questionable now with India, admittedly without key players Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, being so totally outplayed by England after also losing badly in Ireland.Their new captain, with six defeats and a wash-out in seven matches, is immediately under pressure at the helm of the most expectant nation in cricket.Shreyas Iyer trudges off after being dismissed at Old Trafford (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)India’s plight was epitomised by the last game. They arrived late after turning down the chance to stay in the on-site hotel at the Utlilita Bowl and then taking 90 minutes to make the five-mile journey from their Southampton base because of heavy traffic — the on-going inaccessibility of the Hampshire ground makes it such a controversial choice to stage an Ashes Test next year.Their tardiness, which saw the start delayed by half an hour, was continued on the field with India looking like a rabble in the face of the onslaught from Buttler and Brook. They dropped three catches, with Shivam Dube not even getting a hand on a steepling chance offered by Brook on just three.India may have made 201-8 in reply to England’s mammoth 257-3 with half centuries from Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, but they never looked like reaching their target.Iyer remained defiant afterwards when The Athletic asked him how tough he was finding the task of replacing a World Cup-winning captain. “It’s not hard, honestly, for me to take over,” he said. “Everyone dreams of captaining India and taking it on when the team are in such a high position creates pressure, but it’s a privilege.“England won these matches because they outplayed us and were comprehensive in all three disciplines.“I want to learn from these moments and this will definitely make me better. That’s my mindset right now. I’m not thinking about what people will say about this series. It hurts but, going forward, I need to be positive in how I’m going to nurture everyone around me, especially in overseas conditions.”The best of ButtlerWhile Brook was strengthening his position as England white-ball captain, his predecessor was quite possibly saving his international career.Buttler has been England’s greatest white-ball player but went into the final match without a half-century in 18 matches and, nearing 36, with time seemingly running out. In the circumstances, his 131 off 64 balls with eight sixes was one of his most significant innings.The T20 World Cup-winning captain in 2022 admitted afterwards that he had started to fear he might be coming towards the end of the road with England.“When you go a long time without scoring runs, you do wonder if the guys at the top are thinking: ‘It might be time to move him on’,” said Buttler. “That probably helped me today.“I thought: ‘Unless you start scoring runs again there’s a conversation to be had because there are some brilliant players on the outside pushing for your spot.’ In a weird way that gave me a lot more freedom. If I was going to fail I’d do it on my own terms.”Jos Buttler scored a timely 131 at Southampton (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)Buttler’s celebration on reaching three figures was particularly heartfelt.“It’s just been a long time coming,“ he said. ”You have days when you wonder if you’ll ever score a hundred again in an England shirt and I was delighted to be able to do it. My dad passed away nearly a year ago and I wanted to score a hundred for him, but it was just relief more than anything.”Teenage troublesWhile Buttler was resurrecting his career, an opener at the other end of the scale was discovering just how tough international cricket can be.Fifteen-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi came into his debut series for India on the back of the extraordinary start to his career in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but found facing his Rajasthan Royals team-mate Jofra Archer a different proposition in English conditions than in the nets in Jaipur.India’s Vaibhav Sooryavanshi departs at Bristol (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)Sooryavanshi made 42 runs in the three matches he played — 30 of them came in sixes — having particular difficulty against the short-ball and extra pace of Archer and Tongue, and was left out of the final game when Sanju Samson, player of the tournament when India won the World Cup, was restored to the side.The sight of Sooryavanshi sitting on the bench with his pads on, almost like a sulky teenager, for the whole of the Indian innings after he was dismissed at Trent Bridge and his gloomy demeanour at Southampton was a reminder of his age and inexperience.This will be a reality check after all the hype surrounding this hugely gifted but still very raw young batter. His time will come.Raising a glass… or notA reminder of England’s recent turmoil came when McCullum was asked if new guidelines provided to their players advising them not to drink on the day before and even the day after matches would be in place after this notable triumph.It was Stokes and Gus Atkinson apparently breaking England’s curfew after victory at Lord’s in the first Test against New Zealand that created so many of England’s troubles in the first place.“For a start, there’s not many of our guys who drink, but if anyone wants a beer tonight they can,” said the coach. “The guidelines are in place and have been sent around.“The guys are very aware of them and the policy is designed to make sure the players make the right decisions and are being looked after. I trust the players completely.“But you still have to feel the warmth of success and if you’re someone who likes a beer then tonight is a great opportunity to enjoy yourself as long as it’s sensible and not to excess. Allow something you’ve achieved in the last 10 days to sink in. We’ll have a quiet beer and let this one land — just as long as no one lands on the front page.”Harry Brook holds the trophy as England celebrate their series win (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)After England have raised a glass comes a three-match one-day international series this week when India will welcome back big guns including captain Shubman Gill and legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.That should be a much stiffer test for Brook and England — and a much better reflection of India’s strength — across all formats.