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

Bruised and battered after back-to-back T20I series losses against England, India enter the final leg of their UK tour with subdued expectations. Having been bowled out in the first 7 matches of the tour, India now have 3 more matches ahead of them which perhaps have more significance as the team looks to build on the ODI World Cup.

Shreyas Iyer will have to do a hard reset as he fights for his place in the ODI fold after a disastrous start to his captaincy with the Indian team. In many ways, he would be able to breathe a sigh of relief as he would not have to officiate for the team against a high-flying England side.

India will be led by Shubman Gill, who recently won his first ODI series as captain against Afghanistan. There were many positives from this three-match series in India as the 2023 finalists discovered the likes of Gurnoor Brar from these short outings. However, the challenge will be a bit more difficult as India will be up against the batting power of England who have been on a killing run against India in their last 4 matches.

But don’t worry. The ODI series sees the return of three of the greatest players of the modern game. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah will return to the Indian squad hoping to shake off the sullen mood of 0-7 against UK in the last 14 days.

Kohli, who was not part of the Afghanistan series, returned from a hamstring injury and is firmly in India’s plans. He was seen having a long chat with captain Shubman Gill during the training session Gill later revealed that it was a matter of player selection in preparation for the ODI World Cup.

“We talked about combinations that could work in South Africa next year, players who are not in the squad at the moment who could be tried,” Shubman said ahead of the opening ODI in Birmingham.

Perhaps it allays concerns over India’s plans to ship the biggest ODI batter of all time to South Africa, where next year’s World Cup will be played.

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 comes as a huge relief to the Indian bowling unit, who simply had no answers to a fighting England side that dropped them like flies in all the T20Is on this tour.

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

ENG vs IND: TEAM NEWS

Both Virat and Rohit expected to field against England (BCCI/X)

India are without the services of Hardik Pandya, who is still injured and is not part of this tour. Harshit Rana, one of the fast bowlers India fielded for the next two World Cups, tore his hamstring and was also ruled out of the series. This leaves India with few bowling options in the series and will have to figure out a way to bowl 50 overs with part-timers like Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar.

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

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

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

“We don’t have any areas of concern. It’s not a restless team. But we have to give a chance to players who generally don’t play a lot of matches. We generally play three-match series, whereas the ODI World Cup is 11 matches. That’s a big jump,” Shubman said.

“I grew up playing a lot of 50-over cricket. It has remained a very integral part of my childhood. When someone says World Cup, I think of 50-over cricket. That is the most prestigious trophy for me and I don’t think the format should be reduced to 40 overs. One thing I would like back is the triangular series. It would be great to have it back,” he added.

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

ENGLAND vs INDIA, 1ST ODI: MATCH DETAILS

ENG vs IND, First ODI Timing: July 14, 3:30 PM IST

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

Live broadcast on JioStar

TV channel: Sony Sports

ENGLAND vs INDIA, 1ST ODI: PITCH AND WEATHER

Birmingham is a batting track that has been kind to many Indian batsmen, 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 XI

England

England have already announced their playing eleven for the first match of the series. They confirmed Jacob Bethell as Ben Duckett’s opening partner and, as mentioned, handed Josh Tongue his debut.

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 PURPOSE

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 quick batting like he did in the Indian Premier League last season.

Gurnoor Brar: If Gurnoor Brar can bowl the batsmen in India, then the prospect of watching him in England should excite all fast-bowling fans. Gurnoor is tall and fierce and hits the deck really hard. With the ball swinging in the power over in T20Is, he could have had a great opportunity to add to his wicket on this tour.

Harry Brook: Amazing innings broke India’s spirit in 5th T20I. Brook may already be a giant in T20Is, but his performances in ODIs leave a lot to be desired. Brook could hold the key to unlock this team’s batting unit along with the evergreen Joe Root.

Liam Dawson: It is not often that Indian spinners are bowled over by English spinners. While the Indian spinners kept the economy above 10 for the T20I series, Dawson conceded just 8.4 runs per over. Alongside Adil Rashid and Will Jacks, Dawson could prove to be a game changer in the middle order.

– The end

Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

14 Jul 2026 07:58 IST