England’s problems against spin did not dwindle as the format shifted from T20Is to ODIs, even if the pre-match image of Varun Chakravarthy marking his runup and sending down a fair number of deliveries at the VCA Stadium here in Nagpur only ended up being a minor sideshow ahead of the series opener.
Ravindra Jadeja, playing his first ODI since the 2023 World Cup final, wheeled through nine overs of his left-arm spin for three wickets to prove a thorn in England’s side, while his like-for-like Axar Patel pocketed Jos Buttler for 52 as India bowled out their opponents for 248 in 47.4 overs. A target of 249 was completed for the loss of six wickets in the 39th over of their innings, with fifties to Shubman Gill (87), Shreyas Iyer (59) and Axar (52).
So terrible was Buttler’s shot to a filthy long hop from Axar, which he only managed to miscue to short fine leg, that even the bowler, on his haunches, saw the funny side of it. England lost 29 wickets to spin during the preceding T20I series and five today, with the debutant Harshit Rana the most successful pace bowler with 3/53, of which almost have came in one over during the Powerplay.
It took a lapse in focus from Phil Salt to end an encouraging opening stand of 75 in the ninth over, when the batsman slapped a delivery from Hardik Pandya out to the deep, ran two quickly, and then harried off for a third only to see Ben Duckett rooted to his crease, rightfully. Then Rana – whose third over cost 26 runs, as Salt cracked two fours and a couple of sixes – took out Duckett (32) and Harry Brook (0) in one over, setting England on their way down a slippery slope.
Really, this Nagpur track had at least 300 run on offer. But England’s batting did not apply itself and barring fifties to Buttler and Jacob Bethell (51) it was another innings of fits and starts. Jadeja underlined his value to this side – in what was his first white-ball match since the T20 World Cup final in June – by dismissing Joe Root, Bethell and Adil Rashid even as Kuldeep Yadav, in his comeback match for India after four months, went for 53 in 9.4 overs.
Rana’s pace and three wickets – he returned to find the edge of Liam Livingstone’s bat in the 36th over – might have tilted him into India’s ICC Champions Trophy squad, given the doubts over whether Jasprit Bumrah will be fit in time for India’s first match on February 20 in Dubai.
If England’s batting against spin was haphazard, the India too gifted several wickets when chasing a very gettable total. Their innings was made to look tougher than it ended up as the ODI debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal – playing in place of the injured Virat Kohli – and Rohit Sharma departed to pace inside the first six overs, but a confidence-coated innings from Iyer got the innings back on track. Jaiswal was worked over repeatedly by Jofra Archer’s pace with the angle, and after a couple delectable shots he got a faint nibble on one. Rohit’s wretched form continued to haunt him, out for two runs when trying to whip a ball on the pads from Saqib Mahmood only to spoon it high into the evening sky for mid-on to pouch it.
Iyer might have expected a short-pitched barrage from Archer, Mahmood and Brydon Carse, for his initial trigger movement at the crease was to hang back. But it was obvious within moments of his arrival that Iyer was not here to be intimidated. He cracked a coruscating six over deep midwicket of Archer, then uppercut into the stands behind third man, and never looked back. In 37 minutes and 30 balls, Iyer reached his fifty with eight fours and two sixes.
Gill, batting at one-down in the absence of Kohli, only had to sit back and watch his partner dazzle from the other end. When Bethell’s part-time spin ended Iyer’s fun on 59, Gil was batting on 28 off 31 deliveries. He ticked singles over and put away the poor balls into the gaps on the offside with elegance, reached his fifty in 60 balls, and did not take any hasty decisions.
Axar, promoted to No 5 ahead of KL Rahul, batted very sensibly to score 52 off 47 deliveries in a partnership worth 108 with Gill. He played pace and spin very confidently and added a bit of flair as well when lofting Rashid for six and upper-cutting Carse for four. Rashid’s extraction of Axar in the 34th over, bowled all ends up, and Rahul in the 36th when popping back a return catch, was followed by Gill missing a century by 13 runs when he tried to smack Archer over mid-on. A straightforward chase turned out to be rather sloppy towards the end, but India will probably not mind it all that much given their 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
