🏏India vs England 3rd ODI 2025: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad 🏏

India vs England, 3rd ODI Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

England’s lacklustre tour has continued as India defeated them comprehensively in the last game to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

The two teams lock horns in Ahmedabad today – it’s a dead rubber in the context of the series but in reality, it’s an important game considering that the Champions Trophy is just a week away. Jos Buttler was all praises for Rohit Sharma in the post-match interview as he mentioned that he scored at a rate that just confirms that the way we want to play is the right way. The idea might be right but the execution hasn’t been quite on point. The visitors put together a better batting performance in the last game but they have struggled in the middle overs against spin.

The middle overs phase is perhaps the most important phase in ODI cricket and that’s where a game is probably won or lost. Also, England’s pace attack is a bit one-dimensional which has worked to the Men in Blue’s advantage.

Jos Buttler smiled and acknowledged ODI greatness while fielding questions about Rohit Sharma's century in Cuttack. The India captain did not have a great start to 2025 with form deserting him, albeit in a different format. But just in time to take a shot at another 50-over ICC event, the big knock came along. Ravindra Jadeja reckoned it was 'great for the team', while Buttler himself chose to use it as a marker for his own side.

"He (Rohit) really showed that in this day and age, in the modern sort of way of playing 50-over cricket, it's very dynamic, very aggressive. He scored at a rate that just confirms really that the way we want to play is the right way.. the correct way to play cricket," Buttler said.

Stat: India have now lost the toss in ten successive ODIs - the second most such sequence by a team behind Netherlands's 11 matches bw Mar 2011 & Aug 2013. They last time they won the toss was in the semifinal against New Zealand at Wankhede in WC 2023.

What happened to rohitwa? why is he losing toss?

England have won the toss and have opted to field

England have won the toss and have opted to field

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh

England (Playing XI): Philip Salt(w), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(c), Tom Banton, Liam Livingstone, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood

Rohit Sharma: I wanted to bat first and put runs on the board because we bowled first in the last two games. It was important for us to get a win in the last game. The fielders portrayed themselves well in the last two games, a lot of young blood. We want to continue to do well in the field. (On Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy) They are pretty new in their careers so we want to keep the pressure away from them, let them do their own and they have got a lot of potential. We have made some changes - Jadeja and Shami have been rested, unfortunately Varun has a sore calf. So, Washi, Kuldeep and Arshdeep come into the side.

Jos Buttler: We are gonna bowl first today. (On whether the expected dew has influenced his decision to bowl first) Little bit maybe, it may spin a bit later. We have batted first in the first two games so it will be a different experience today ahead of the Champions Trophy. It's a decent wicket, we played New Zealand in the World Cup a few years ago, it was a black soil pitch and it played better in the second half. We have one change - Tom Banton comes in for Jamie Overton into the side.

England have won the toss and have opted to fieldE

Rohit Sharma: I wanted to bat first and put runs on the board because we bowled first in the last two games. It was important for us to get a win in the last game. The fielders portrayed themselves well in the last two games, a lot of young blood. We want to continue to do well in the field. (On Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy) They are pretty new in their careers so we want to keep the pressure away from them, let them do their own and they have got a lot of potential. We have made some changes - Jadeja and Shami have been rested, unfortunately Varun has a sore calf. So, Washi, Kuldeep and Arshdeep come into the side.

Jos Buttler: We are gonna bowl first today. (On whether the expected dew has influenced his decision to bowl first) Little bit maybe, it may spin a bit later. We have batted first in the first two games so it will be a different experience today ahead of the Champions Trophy. It's a decent wicket, we played New Zealand in the World Cup a few years ago, it was a black soil pitch and it played better in the second half. We have one change - Tom Banton comes in for Jamie Overton into the side.

Jos Buttler: We are gonna bowl first today. (On whether the expected dew has influenced his decision to bowl first) Little bit maybe, it may spin a bit later. We have batted first in the first two games so it will be a different experience today ahead of the Champions Trophy. It's a decent wicket, we played New Zealand in the World Cup a few years ago, it was a black soil pitch and it played better in the second half. We have one change - Tom Banton comes in for Jamie Overton into the side.

Rohit Sharma: I wanted to bat first and put runs on the board because we bowled first in the last two games. It was important for us to get a win in the last game. The fielders portrayed themselves well in the last two games, a lot of young blood. We want to continue to do well in the field. (On Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy) They are pretty new in their careers so we want to keep the pressure away from them, let them do their own and they have got a lot of potential. We have made some changes - Jadeja and Shami have been rested, unfortunately Varun has a sore calf. So, Washi, Kuldeep and Arshdeep come into the side.