The first ODI between India and England will be taking place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Tuesday, March 23. After a pulsating T20I series in Ahmedabad, the players will be looking forward to playing the action shifts to Pune for three ODIs between India and England. The hosts have triumphed in both the Test and T20I series and will be looking to repeat the trick in the ODIs as well.
Although Virat Kohli and his men aren’t in the best of forms in ODIs losing both their last two series, the presence of bonafide stars such as Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will be giving them some confidence, and the home advantage will also play a crucial role. With their bowling attack also finding their feet in the T20I series, hopes are high among the Indians. Their opponents, England, will be looking to salvage some lost pride with a strong showing in the ODIs.
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With the ICC T20 World Cup just a few months away, the English would want to familiarize themselves with the conditions. There aren’t many new faces from the squad that featured in the T20Is, although there are certain chances of Liam Livingstone can get a chance in place of Joe Root, who is unavailable for this series.
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The Indians are the favorites heading into this series, although world champions England can’t be taken lightly in any given situation. With the likes of Virat Kohli and Eoin Morgan taking center stage over the next few days, we should be in for another cracking series between India and England, this time in the ODIs.
India
Virat Kohli will be having some headaches while finalizing a combination for the 1st ODI against England. He will have to take a call on playing an additional all-rounder and have a sixth bowling option or include KL Rahul, who looked rusty in the T20I series, or hand a debut to Suryakumar Yadav. Rishabh Pant will walk into the eleven and so will Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Virat confirmed on the eve of the match that India will open with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya/Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan/Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal.
England
England will name their team at the toss and in the absence of Joe Root, who has been rested from this series, they will be requiring a reliable number three. There are a number of candidates to play that role including Liam Livingstone, Sam Billings, and Ben Stokes. After a quiet T20I series, Stokes might be marginally the favorite to move up the order. Jofra Archer’s absence because of injury will definitely be making way for Reece Topley to take the new ball.
Possible XI: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Sam Billings, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
