England vs India 1st ODI Preview: Ro-Ko, Bumrah Returns as India Aim to Bounce Back Against England

After the recent T20I series debacle against England, which India lost 0-4, the team will be looking for a fresh start as they gear up for the ODI series starting today. The team’s morale will be boosted by the influx of experienced players coming back to the squad.

Coach Gambhir, the ODI captain, Shubham Gill and the rest of the players will look to shake off the T20 loss and redeem themselves in the ODI. This series is viewed by many as the lengthy build-up process towards the ODI World Cup, which is scheduled late next year in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

India will look to make a strong start to the series and captain Shumban Gill will feel at ease with the presence of the ODI specialists in the teams, like the experienced duo Rohit ‘HitMan’ Sharma, Virat ‘King’ Kohli, K.L. Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, etc.

Rohit and Virat Kohli are likely to be the cynosure to the cricket fan’s eyes as the experienced duo will look to guide the team to a series win while trying to make a case for themselves as the right personnel to have in the team for the World Cup 2027. The latter hasn't played any form of cricket since the IPL final in May, and he opted to sit out of the home series against Australia due to a hamstring injury.

Coming back to the team is the fast bowler, Bumrah who will feature in an ODI since the 2023 World Cup final loss against Australia. The BCCI has been very careful about managing the 32-year-old’s workload, and he now only plays the format in which the next important global tournament is.

Shreyas Iyer, who is also part of the ODI squad will feel the pressure as he will be keenly watched. He has to first leave the baggage of the captaincy and the six-match loss streak behind. Although he scored two back-to-back half centuries in the previous two T20 matches, his recent form in the 50-over format has not been great.

He scored 12, 26 and 20 not out against Afghanistan. In the series versus New Zealand, earlier this year, which India lost 1-2, Iyer scored 60 runs overall.

On the other hand, England may have handed India 4-0 drubbing in the T20I series, but have not played ODI cricket since their 2-1 victory over Sri Lanka in January. In fact, after their disastrous campaign in the 2023 World Cup ended where they were placed seventh, they have lost six out of eight bilateral ODI series.

Adding to the England woes is the recent exit of Ben Stokes and the ugly news of Brendon McCullum being sacked as the Test coach. But the Kiwi remains in charge of the White-ball format and he too will be keen to inspire his side to go take the moment from the T20I win forward and go for the kill.

England vs India - The Squad

England: Harry Brook (Capt.), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, James Coles, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Joe Root and Josh Tongue.

India: Shubman Gill (Capt.), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, K.L. Rahul (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar and Prince Yadav.