• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Ind Vs Eng 1St Odi Preview Top Sides Building Up To Yet Another Riveting Series

IND vs ENG | 1st ODI Preview: Top sides building up to yet another riveting series

Mayank Kumar

The caravan that started in Chennai and offered riveting contests between the bat and ball over the course of two years has reached its final course of action in Pune. The Test series where all the action began and the following T20I series lived up to their expectations of providing tough battled from both sides and the fans would be expecting nothing but another spell of highly-competitive cricket from the top two sides.

Before the start of the white-ball leg of the tour, it was made a contest of ideas on how to play in limited-overs cricket. England have been known for playing in a going all guns blazing style while India have had a reputation for setting up games and playing calculative cricket before the series. The ODI series between two limited-overs to start off at a similar note with two ODI giants sitting comfortably at a distant corner in terms of ideas on how to play in the 50-overs format.

However, Virat Kohli had made an admission about India planning to shed off their usual style of playing T20 cricket and instead of adopting a fresh approach on the lines of the oppositions’ ideas. Will India do that in ODIs as well and look to attack England in a berserk manner like the Eoin Morgan’s side likes to do to other teams? Highly unlikely proposition this is on the eve of a three-match ODI series between the two sides scheduled to start tomorrow in Pune.

The ODI series will have the least number of matches compared to the Test and T20 series and the move was made to accommodate more T20s in order to allow enough game time for both sides to build up towards the World T20. 

The ODI World Cup in two years away and hence there are not many stakes lying around this ODI series except the perpetual competitiveness of Eoin Morgan and Virat Kohli and their hatred for loss.

For India, it will be a return of Rohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the format after missing out due to injuries. Both of them were injured in the IPL and could not make it to Australia where India were plummeted to the floor by the Australian batsmen on flat pitches of the Sydney Cricket Ground.

On the missing list, Indian will not have the services of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami, who is yet to recover from a fracture and hence have brought Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj to try new options with the ball in ODIs. 

Ravindra Jadeja will be another important omission from the team as he is still recovering from a finger dislocation, and it has handed an opportunity for Krunal Pandya to replicate his form from the Vijay Hazare Trophy to international cricket.

England, on the other hand, will be without Jofra Archer who has been ruled out due to a recurrent elbow injury and Joe Root who has been rested. Joe Root’s absence will allow opportunities for the likes of Sam Billings to finally break into playing XI.

India vs England: Match Details

Match No.-01

Date and Time: March 23, 01:30 PM IST, 08:00 AM GMT

Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association, Pune

Broadcast and Live Stream: Star Sports, Hotstar

Pitch conditions

The pitch at the Maharashtra Cricket Association ground in Pune is likely to be a flat one. 

The last game these two sides played in 2016 turned out to be a high-scoring ground where both the side scored runs in excess of 350 and India won the game on the back of twin centuries from Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav.

Team News

India

India have handed maiden call ups to Prasidh Krishna and Krunal Pandya. However, the former is a doubtful starter in the first game of the series with the presence of in-form bowlers in Shardul Thakur, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar from the T20I series.

It will be some sort of comebacks for both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan when they will walk together to open the batting for India. Dhawan will be making his comeback to the ODI team after going out of favour from the playing XI of the T20 team, while Rohit will be returning to his best-suited format after missing the series against Australia due to injury.

KL Rahul, who was dropped from the final T20I of the series due to poor form will compete with Rishabh Pant for the wicketkeeper-batsman slot in the playing XI. However, Rahul is likely to retain his place on the back of strong performances in the format in the last few years.

In the bowling department, Yuzvendra Chahal will be back after missing the last two game of the T20I series, while India will be tempted to go for the left-arm spin of Krunal Pandya over Kuldeep Yadav’s chinaman as Pandya has been in terrific form with the bat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Strongest XI

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK) Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj

England

Joe Root has been rested from the ODI series and it would be a massive opportunity for Sam billings to seal a spot for himself over the three games against India. 

Billings was one of the prominent successful batsmen in England’s last series against Australia last year. However, there is a lack of clarity on the spot he will be played as the trio of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan has come back after the all-rounder missed the ODI series against Australia.

Another member rested from the series—Chris Woakes’ absence will open the door of playing XI finally for Moeen Ali who warmed the beaches throughout the five-match T20I series.

The absence of Archer will put the onus on Mark Wood to bring success for England with the new ball and other prospects in Curran brothers will also get chances to showcase.

Strongest XI

Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Sam Billings, Eoin Morgan (c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid, Tom Curran

Discover more

Top Stories
news

WI vs SL | 1st Test Day 1: Jason Holder, Kemar Roach run through hopeless batsmen

West Indies have rattled Sri Lanka on the first day of the first Test being played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Sri Lanka were bundled out for mere 169 runs while in reply Windies survived the day without suffering any loss of wicket. West Indies packed up their bowling with four pacers in Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel, Jason Holder, and Alzarri Joseph. Kraig Brathwaite won the all-important toss in his first Test as a full-time skipper of the West Indies and decided to unleash his pacers on the tourists batting line up. Windies bowlers were wayward to start with Roach mend his course quickly enough to keep Sri Lankan openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne on their toes. The length of the attack was corrected to fuller as both the openers rallied on some luck. Braithwaite moved to Rakheem Conwall’s off-spin in only the sixth over of the game in a move that would have raised many eyebrows then. However, the off-spinner vindicated the move getting rid of Lankan skipper Karunaratne with his usual extra bounce. Windies captain got another chance to become an instant hero when Oshado Fernando and Thirimanne misjudged a single, and Brathwaite found the former out of his crease with a bullet direct hit at the batting end. With two wickets down for nothing, the onus was on the pair of Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva to bail Sri Lanka out of trouble in absence of Angelo Mathews and failure for skipper Karunaratne. However, Jason Holder and Roach came in with some other ideas and bowled with immaculate control over line and length which was missing in the first spell. A bit of movement away from the off stump accounted for Chandimal while Dhananjaya looked really greedy for big booming drives having already hit two. A nip backer sneaked through the big gap between his pad and bat and disturbed the furniture behind him and also Sri Lanka’s spirit on the very first day of the game. Pathum Nissanka could not stand up tall and provide any sort of resistance to the Roach-Holder duo as an edge behind the wicket was snaffled smartly by the latter. With five wickets down before the 100 run-mark, Sri Lanka were in deep trouble and needed someone to bat for some period of time with Thirimanne who was batting with amicable patience and determination. Niroshan Dickwella got the opportunity to enhance his reputation once again and he got the best out of it by stitching a vital 58 runs partnership with the opener. He played in his counterattacking style to put some pressure off his partner and Thirimanne reached a well-deserved fifty of 128 balls. Dickwella could not last long though and perished due to indiscipline outside off stump and his wicket brought about a catastrophic collapse of the lower order as the tourists were blown away from 150-6 to 169 out. Jason Holder picked up a richly deserving fifer on his return in the longest format for the Windies while Kemar Roach was not far behind with a three-wicket haul. Holder’s control with the ball and assurances with the bat could well have the reason Brathwaite could take a big call of playing only five batsmen and asking Joshua Da Silva to bat the number six position. Sri Lanka will have to strike early on the second day and they can’t allow Windies batsmen to get away with some loose balls. Karunaratne will have his tasks cut out once again as the captain of the side who does not have too many runs to play with a bowling line up that is so thin on experience.

news

Yusuf Pathan, Yuvraj Singh rekindle memories of yesteryears as India Legends lift Road Safety World Series trophy

In front of a full-house crowd at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium in Raipur, former India stars Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Pathan lit up the skies with their blistering sixes as they helped India Legends win the inaugural edition of the Road Safety World Series T20 tournament. The Indian Legends side defeated Sri Lanka Legends by 14 runs in the final game. While Yuvraj hit four fours and four sixes in his 41 balls 60 run innings, Yusuf seemed to be dealing only in boundaries hitting five sixes and four fours in his 36 balls 62. He came good with the ball too, picking up two crucial wickets of dangermen Tillakaratne Dilshan and Sanath Jayasuriya. It was this all-round performance of his that earned him the Man of the Match award in the final. The target of 182 set up by India Legends was never going to be an easy chase, even in the dew for Sri Lanka. It turned out to be difficult than expected as the team lost their skipper Dilshan very cheaply. Jayasuriya looked a vintage version of himself till the time he was on the crease, scoring 43 off 35 with the help of five fours and a six. Chamara Silva went cheaply. But what hurt Sri Lanka more was the departure of Upul Tharanga, another man in form departing without performing much. He was removed by Irfan Pathan. In the end, it came down to lesser-known players like Chinthaka Jayasinghe and Kaushalya Weeraratne. They did amazingly well, recovering Sri Lanka legends innings, taking it from 91-4 to 155 in a span of just 35 balls. The Legends from the island nation came in touching distance of the victory after hitting R Vinay Kumar for 19 runs in the 18th over. Only 30 was needed from the last two when Manpreet Gony took the ball and removed Weeraratne, changing the course of the game. Weeraratne scored 38 off 15 with the help of three sixes and three fours. Jayasinghe, however, stood there and hit a six off the very first ball of the last over, bringing the equation down to 18 from five balls. Unfortunately, he got off the strike the very next ball and Nuwan Kulasekara missed the third ball, making 18 from three, When Jayasinghe got back the strike the target became almost impossible to achieve, with 16 required off the last two. He got run out in an attempt to retain the strike for the last ball. Earlier in the day, India Legends were asked to bat by Sri Lanka Legends. After the fall of Virender Sehwag and Subrimanium Badrinath cheaply, the Legends side rode on some brilliantly nostalgic drives from Sachin Tendulkar and then the explosive batting from Yuvraj and Pathan to get to 181 in their allotted 20 overs.

news

IND W vs RSA W| Laura Wolvaardt, Lizelle Lee, forgettable day in field and a last over heartbreak: How South Africa women created history

With one run needed off the last ball, Arundhati Reddy, the Indian pace bowler bowled a perfect length ball, Laura Wolvaardt got an undercut, the ball went to Richa Ghosh at short fine leg, she failed to collect it in one go and was unable to throw as the Proteas Women completed the single. Those might have been the last moments of the game, but in them, they had the essence of the entire second innings. Ghosh personifying the misfields that went on in the entire second innings, Wolvaardt showing her mental strength of fighting all odds at every moment and her undercut revealing the luck that she carried to the ground right from the beginning of the innings, and which stayed till the end. But before all this, there transpired an entire game which led to a situation like this. Chasing a tough target of 159 on a reddish wicket at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium in Lucknow, which didn’t have much dew, the South Africans didn’t have a good start. They lost last match hero Anne Bosch when the team score was just eight runs. But just like the last game, the women in green and yellow built a partnership for the third wicket, and once again it was the Indian side generously dropping catches and giving chances to the South Africans to punish them. Firstly, Lee was dropped in the eighth over off the bowling of Radha Yadav when she was batting at 30, then it was Wolvaardt, who presented Rajeshwari Gayakwad with a sitter of a caught and bowled chance and she made a meal of it. Wolvaardt who went on to hit the winning runs was batting at two back then. Lee was then dropped once again by Richa, this time at short cover when she was on 61. These two women then made the most of the chances as even after Proteas skipper Sune Luus got run out against the run of play when the team score was 66. Lee, 28 and Wolvaardt, 21 then added quick 50 runs off just 25 balls before Lee was finally caught by Radha off her own bowling. Mignon du Preez who came fayre the fall of the wicket was too removed without much fuss. But Wolvaardt on the other hand was taking the game away from India. After Radha bowled a beautiful 18th over, giving away only six runs in a crunch situation and increasing the required rate to over nine. Harleen Deol, the young batting all-rounder was trusted by Smriti to turn things around for India and she did by picking up du Preez’s wicket and giving away just two runs in the first four balls. But in the fifth ball, she bowled a very lose full toss which was hit for a four by Wolvaardt. Then again came Laura’s luck in action as her sweep shot went through her legs, just away from the wicket-keeper but fine enough to beat the short fine leg for a four. With nine to defend in the last over, Arundhati was given the ball. She started perfectly bowling four pitch-perfect balls to give away just three runs off them. Just when it seems that India might run away with the game, Arundhati bowls big beamer which is called a no-ball for height, giving Wolvaardt the opportunity to score three runs of the next two balls, the first one of them being a free hit. On the free hit, Laura ran two and it came down to just one from one on the last ball. Earlier in the evening, Smriti, after losing yet another toss, came to open the innings with Shafali and went out cheaply again. But Shafali was in no mood to relent as she put up a show for the Lucknow crowd, toying with the South African bowlers, including the great Shabnim Ismail. Before she got bowled playing down the wrong line, Verma, 17 had hit 47 off just 31 balls. Another teenager Ghosh then took over the mantle to give a perfect finish to this brilliant start by Verma. She too played some brilliant shots, albeit missing the last two balls of the innings, to score unbeaten 44 off 26 balls. Thanks to those bullish innings from Richa and Shafali and worthy contributions from Harleen (30 off 31), India reached 158 in 20 overs, their 11th highest total in the format. With this win, South Africa recorded their only fourth T20I win over India and their first-ever T20I series win against India, and in the process took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series with the final game to be played on 24th March at the same venue in Lucknow.