1st ODI preview: India rely on comeback men Rohit, Virat to lift dampened spirits

England vs India, 1st ODI preview: India will look to seal their first win on the tour after a disastrous T20I series in England. The return of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah adds firepower to the side, led by Shubman Gill.

In Short

• India take on England in the ODI series opener in Birmingham today
• Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah return to action
• Shubman Gill will lead the one-day side in the three-match series

Bruised and battered after back-to-back losses in the T20I series against England, India enter the final leg of their UK tour with tempered expectations. Outplayed in the first 7 matches of the tour, India now have 3 more matches in front of them, which perhaps hold more significance as the team tries to build for the ODI World Cup.

Shreyas Iyer will have to do a hard reset as he fights for his spot in the ODI fold after a disastrous beginning to his captaincy with the Indian team. In many ways, he might breathe a sigh of relief as he would not have to make decisions for the team against a high-flying England team.

India are going to be led by Shubman Gill, who recently won his first ODI series as captain against Afghanistan. There were a lot of positives from that 3-match series in India, as the 2023 finalists discovered the likes of Gurnoor Brar from those brief outings. The challenge will be slightly more difficult, though, as India will meet the batting might of England, who have been on a murderous run against India in the last 4 matches.

But fear not. The ODI series sees the return of three of the greatest players in the modern game. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah will return to the Indian team, hoping to pull the side back from the morose mood caused by the 0-7 hammering against the United Kingdom over the course of the last 14 days.

Kohli, who was not a part of the Afghanistan series, has returned from his hamstring injury and is firmly in India's plans. He was seen having long chats with captain Shubman Gill during practice, which Gill later revealed were about player selections in the build-up to the ODI World Cup.

"We were speaking about the combinations that could work in South Africa next year, the players who are not in the team at the moment and who could be tried out," Shubman said ahead of the opening ODI in Birmingham.

It perhaps allays the concerns about India's plans, on whether they would carry the greatest ODI batter of all time to South Africa, where the World Cup will be played next year.

The focus will be on Jasprit Bumrah, who returns to the ODI fold for the first time since the 2023 ODI World Cup final. Bumrah's return is of huge relief to the Indian bowling unit, which simply had no answers to give to the belligerent English side, who swatted them away like flies in all the T20Is on this tour.

Bumrah's return would have made a bigger noise, if not for Kohli and Rohit's return in the top order. But Bumrah, being Bumrah, has a habit of flying under the radar till he steps onto the field, where he shines brighter than the others on most days.

ENG vs IND: TEAM NEWS

India do not have the services of Hardik Pandya, who is still injured and not a part of this tour. Harshit Rana, one of the fast bowlers whom India had earmarked for the next two World Cups, has torn a muscle in his hamstring and has been ruled out of the series as well. This leaves India short of bowling options in the series, and they will have to figure out a way to bowl 50 overs with part-timers like Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar.

However, the India captain refused to admit in his press conference that India have big concerns, and said that they will use the next block of matches to try out as many players as possible to see who they can carry to the ODI World Cup next year.

Shubman spoke passionately about ODI cricket, stating that the ODI World Cup is the most prestigious trophy in cricket, which he would like to win.

The India captain further advocated for more multilateral series, which he believed were more exciting than bilateral cricket.

"We do not have any concerning areas. This is not an unsettled squad. But we have to give chances to the players who do not play a lot of games in general. We play 3-match series in general, while the ODI World Cup is 11 matches. That is a big jump," Shubman said.

"I grew up watching 50-over cricket a lot. It remained a very integral part of my childhood. When someone says World Cup, I think of the 50-over one. This is the most prestigious trophy for me, and I do not think that the format should be reduced to 40 overs. One thing that I would like back is the triangular series. It would be great to have that back," he added.

England, on the other hand, are in fierce form and good spirits, so much so that they have decided to hand Josh Tongue a debut against India. Tongue and Jofra Archer terrorised the Indian batting line-up with short balls in the T20Is, and one wonders whether that is the strategy England will opt for again in this ODI series.

ENGLAND vs INDIA, 1ST ODI: MATCH DETAILS

ENG vs IND, 1st ODI Match Timing: July 14, 3:30 pm IST

ENG vs IND, 1st ODI Match Venue: Edgbaston, Birmingham

Live streaming on JioStar

TV Channel: Sony Sports

ENGLAND vs INDIA, 1ST ODI: PITCH AND WEATHER

Birmingham is a batting-friendly track, which has been kind to many India batters, especially Rohit Sharma. Rohit has 447 runs at the venue at a ridiculous average of 90, which would be a huge boost for the team.

The weather is expected to remain clear throughout the day, with temperatures hovering in the mid-20s.

ENGLAND vs INDIA, 1ST ODI: PREDICTED XIs

England

England have already announced their playing XI for the first match of the series. They have confirmed Jacob Bethell as the opening partner to Ben Duckett and, as said before, handed a debut to Josh Tongue.

Jacob Bethell, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson, Josh Tongue, Adil Rashid

India

Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar

ENGLAND vs INDIA, 1ST ODI: PLAYERS IN FOCUS

Virat Kohli: This is Virat Kohli's first match since recovering from a hamstring injury. Kohli's fitness and batting at No. 3 are key to India's success and it would be interesting to see if he can continue his high-tempo batting, like he did ahead of last season's Indian Premier League.

Gurnoor Brar: If Gurnoor Brar can bounce out batters in India, then the prospect of watching him bowl in England should excite all fast-bowling fans. Gurnoor is tall and fierce and hits the deck really hard. Considering that the ball swung in the powerplay in the T20Is, he could have the perfect opportunity to add to his wicket tally on this tour.

Harry Brook: An astonishing innings broke India's spirit in the 5th T20I. Brook might already be a giant in T20Is, but his performances in ODIs leave much to be desired. Brook could hold the key to unlocking this team's batting unit alongside the evergreen Joe Root.

Liam Dawson: It is not often that India's spinners get outbowled by an English one. While India's spinners maintained an economy of over 10 in the T20I series, Dawson conceded just 8.4 runs per over. Alongside Adil Rashid and Will Jacks, Dawson could turn out to be a game-changer in the middle overs.

- Ends