Ind vs Eng 1st ODI: England opt to bat; Kohli misses out, debut for Jaiswal, Rana

Virat Kohli congratulates Harshit Rana for getting the ODI cap before the start of the first ODI cricket match against England, at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur, on Thursday, Feb. 06, 2025.
| Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR

England skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat against India in the opening One-day International of the three-match series here on Thursday (February 6, 2025).

The hosts will miss star batter Virat Kohli due to a “sore right knee” but pacer Mohammed Shami returns to ODI action for the first time since India’s World Cup final against Australia on November 19.

Shami, who was the leading wicket-taker (24) for India in the tournament, made his International comeback in the T20I series against England, which India recently won 4-1.

The Rohit Sharma-led side handed debuts to young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and seamer Harshit Rana.

This is India’s first ODI since August 2024, when they lost a three-match series 0-2 to Sri Lanka.

Teams

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Shami.

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