IND vs ENG | It’s time to put ODI cricket in the limelight again

India’s captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and batting coach Shitanshu Kotak during a practice session ahead of the first ODI between India and England, at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on February 5, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

It has been a challenging few months for the superstars of Indian cricket. The twin Test series defeats to New Zealand (0-3 at home) and Australia (1-3 away) have raised a lot of questions about the road ahead for some of those.

As the big names gather again to don the national colours for the three-match ODI series against England starting in Nagpur at the VCA Stadium on Thursday (February 6, 2025), they will want to burnish their reputations.

The ODI format is fighting for relevance, sandwiched between the Tests and the T20Is, and bilaterals have lost sheen. Still, these three outings are vital for both teams ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy later this month.

India’s batting mainstays Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill have all had meagre returns with the bat in recent times, albeit in Tests, and have a point to prove.

Since losing in the 2023 World Cup final, the Men in Blue have played only six 50-over games. In December 2023, a second-string squad won 2-1 in South Africa while the team with most of the players who will be part of this series and the Champions Trophy lost 0-2 to Sri Lanka last August.

Most batters, barring Rohit, struggled to get the spinners away in Lanka during the middle-overs, and it is something the batting group needs to address.

Though India has a stable batting core — led by Rohit and Gill at the top and followed by Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, K.L. Rahul, and Hardik Pandya — the team would look to sort out the rest of the line-up.

With skipper Rohit indicating that Rahul is set to continue to be the first-choice wicketkeeper, Rishabh Pant might have to wait for his chance, though the left-hander offers variety to a right-handed heavy batting order.

It will be interesting to see which two among Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar might fill the number seven and eight spots. Jadeja hasn’t played an ODI since the World Cup final.

Rotation of resources

On the bowling front, the management might have to rotate its resources to give everyone game time. Considering both Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav are coming off a long injury layoff, their progress will be keenly monitored.

The inclusion of Varun Chakaravarthy, who is set to make his debut in this series, has added another variable.

Meanwhile, England is bolstered by the arrival of Joe Root, who can offer stability at number three. The English line-up is similar to the one played in the T20Is, and the batters would hope for a better show than what they have managed so far.

Deputy Harry Brook has had a forgettable run in India so far, struggling against spinners and would like to address it soon. The visitor has added leggie Rehan Ahmed to the squad to strengthen its spin arsenal.

Having lost the T20I series 1-4, Jos Buttler’s men would want to show a better account of themselves and not leave Indian shores empty-handed.

The teams: India (from): Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Shubman Gill (Vice-capt.), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, K.L. Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakaravarthy.

England (XI): Jos Buttler (Capt.), Harry Brook (Vice-capt.), Phil Salt (wk), Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Jofra Archer, Jacob Bethell and Brydon Carse.