The Indian cricket team, and particularly its head coach Gautam Gambhir, would be hoping that a change in the format will bring a change in fortunes and results as their ongoing UK tour has been disastrous so far.
India have lost all the six completed T20Is – two against Ireland and four against England – on their trip to the UK hitherto, with Shreyas Iyer beginning his T20I captaincy journey inauspiciously.
The action now moves into the final leg of the tour: a three-match ODI series against Harry Brook’s team.
IND vs ENG: When and where is the 1st ODI of India vs England series?
The first ODI between India and England will be played on July 14, Tuesday, at Edgbaston in Birmingham. The match has a scheduled start time of 3:30 PM IST.
India’s previous ODI series was in June at home against Afghanistan. Shubman Gill’s unit clean-swept the visitors 3-0, but the challenge in England is completely different and so much tougher than in home conditions as the T20I team found out.
Firstly, talking about changes in the squad, Virat Kohli is back, having missed the Afghanistan ODI series owing to a hamstring issue. Harshit Rana, who was named in the squad for the England ODIs, has been ruled out due to a Grade 1 hamstring injury. Rana has been replaced by Prince Yadav.
Apart from Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel are also back for the ODIs against Brook’s Three Lions as India fine-tune their preparations for the 2027 World Cup.
However, Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy are both missing due to respective injuries, with Shivam Dube getting an ODI call-up as the seam-bowling all-rounder. Dube has featured in only four ODIs so far, the last of which came in 2024.
Further, Yashavi Jaiswal, who smashed a century against Afghanistan, is not picked as Virat Kohli returned. This would mean that Gill, who batted at No. 3 in the 2nd ODI vs Afghanistan and pushed himself further down in the 3rd ODI, will return to open alongside Rohit Sharma. That is, unless India decide to play both Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul in the playing XI and promote Kishan to the top, a scenario that is unlikely at the moment, but with Gambhir as the coach, nothing out of the set template can be ruled out.
Talking about the potential India playing XI for the 1st ODI against England, only five players are certain starters: Gill, Rohit, Kohli, Iyer, and Bumrah.
Rahul was rested from the 3rd ODI against Afghanistan after Kishan belted a century in the 2nd ODI. Yet, Rahul is expected to remain the first-choice No. 5 and wicketkeeper given his solid output in this position in recent years. Axar Patel is an almost certainty in the lineup.
Arshdeep Singh is the only left-arm pacer in the squad and is likely to slot in the playing XI and share the new ball with Bumrah.
Given that Harshit Rana is not available, India might play both Dube and Sundar in the same line-up. Gambhir’s tendency to fill the side with all-rounders could prompt India to take the field with three all-rounders in Axar, Dube, and Sundar.
Gurnoor Brar was India’s highest wicket-taker against Afghanistan, with 7 scalps in 3 games, while Prasidh Krishna picked up 5 wickets in 2 games. They are likely to compete for one spot in the 1st ODI against England.
IND vs ENG: India Playing XI For 1st ODI – Predicted
Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk)/Ishan Kishan (wk), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar/Prasidh Krishna
This probable playing XI includes three frontline seamers, two spin-bowling all-rounders, and one pace-bowling all-rounder, following the top five solid batters.
The squad also includes Kuldeep Yadav. However, the wrist-spinner’s form in white-ball cricket has dipped this year, and he was left out of the 3rd ODI against Afghanistan. If India do include Kuldeep Yadav, that would force a wholesale of changes in both the bowling combination and the personnel.
IND vs ENG: India Squad For ODI Series vs England:
Shubman Gill (C), Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Shivam Dube, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Axar Patel, Gurnoor Brar, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh
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