IND vs ENG: 1st ODI Preview – Focus shifts to ODIs as India & England prep for Champions Trophy
India and England lock horns in the first ODI in the three-match series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, February 6. This series is going to serve as a dress rehearsal for both teams ahead of the all-important Champions Trophy 2025, which begins on February 19.
India will be playing an ODI for the first time since their 0-2 defeat against Sri Lanka in August 2024. Rohit Sharma and Co. will look to build some momentum by putting in solid performances across the three matches. Also, experienced batters Rohit and Virat Kohli will be under the scanner as they have struggled with the bat of late. Both players returned to domestic cricket ahead of this series but couldn’t get among the runs.
Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see whether India allows the in-form Varun Chakaravarthy straightaway after the mystery spinner was added to the squad at the last minute. If he can impress the selectors, he could be added to India’s final Champions Trophy squad as well. Indian team management will also keep a close eye on Mohammed Shami’s fitness as he returns to the ODI side for the first time since the 2023 World Cup in India.
Meanwhile, England would want to forget their humiliating defeat in the T20I series and come out all guns blazing in the ODIs. England’s last appearance in the ODI format came against the West Indies in October. They lost the three-match series 1-2 in the Caribbean. Liam Livingstone and Phil Salt fared well with the bat in that series. They will have to take a lot of responsibility against India and the other batters will need to step up.
The likes of Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, and Adil Rashid will have to use their experience against the dangerous Indian batting side. England is a very good fielding side and they will look to stop as many runs as they can. The Three Lions were guilty of committing hara-kiri in most of the matches in the T20 series against India. The inclusion of Joe Root should give the tourists stability at the top of the order.
Pitch Report
As many as nine ODIs have been played at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur so far, of which chasing teams have won six while defending ones have emerged victorious on three occasions. The average first innings score at the venue is 288. Needless to say, chasing could be a good decision at this venue, especially with the possibility of dew coming into play in the evening.
Probable Playing XI
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh.
England: Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (wk/c), Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood.
