A bilateral three-match ODI series is not a huge sample size but when it is scheduled right before a marquee tournament, it will give a blueprint to both teams regarding their playing XI. India and England is all set to take on each other at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur in the opening ODI on Thursday and both teams could not have asked for a better preparation platform before the Champions Trophy. For players of both teams, the series would be like an audition stage for the big tournament.
The hosts took the T20I series by 4-1 but 50-over format is a different ball altogether as different players will join their respective teams. As it has been always the case and more so in the recent past, the spotlight will be on India’s two veteran batters – Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
In the last six months, Kohli and Rohit have struggled to find consistent runs in the red-ball version but the 50-over format has always been their strength.
Rohit has adopted an aggressive batting approach in the white-ball format and with not many runs under his belt, it would be interesting to note his strategy in the Powerplay overs.
In-form Varun Chakravarthy was also added to India’s squad on Tuesday after he bagged 14 scalps in five T20Is against the visitors.
Meanwhile, England will receive a shot in the arm as Joe Root will join the ODI squad. But the English batters must solve their issues against the Indian spinners in the middle overs, which was evident in the T20I series.
Match Prediction: India will start as favorites against England.
India ODI squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakaravarthy.
England ODI squad: Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Philip Salt, Jamie Smith, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
