🏏India tour of England, 2026: England vs India, 1st ODI,🏏

England vs India, 1st ODI, India tour of England, @ Edgbaston, Birmingham

Will a change in format result in a change in fortunes for India? The visitors head into the opening ODI against England in Birmingham looking for a fresh start after a torrid run in recent weeks in T20Is despite retaining their crown earlier this year.

Questions over the team's direction under Gautam Gambhir have resurfaced, but the 50-over format offers an opportunity to reset with a vastly different-looking squad.

The biggest boost for India is the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, whose presence instantly transforms both the batting order and the dressing room.

Apart from those two, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul and skipper Shubman Gill also return as India continue their march towards the 2027 ODI World Cup.

After a young side struggled for consistency in the shortest format, the visitors will hope their seasoned campaigners can bring much-needed stability against an England side brimming with confidence.

Brendon McCullum's side dominated the T20Is with noteworthy performances from the bowling department before Jos Buttler and Harry Brook exploded in the final game.

They will be eager to carry that momentum into the 50-over leg to ensure their head coach doesn't face the heat after just losing his Test gig.

While bilateral cricket continues to chase relevance, this series will be vital for the hosts who haven't been consistent in this format for a while. Since the start of 2025, they have suffered series losses to India, South Africa and New Zealand and failed to reach the semifinals of the Champions Trophy. They did win a series earlier this year in Sri Lanka though and that should give them some confidence.

For India, this opening game is all about restoring confidence within the squad and reminding everyone why they remain one of the world's strongest white-ball outfits. For a change, the spotlight will be on both the coaches at the same time.

What: England vs India, 1st ODI on July 14, 2026 at 11 AM local time (3.30 PM IST)

Where: Edgbaston, Birmingham

England

The hosts have announced their XI a day before the game. There's confirmation that Jacob Bethell will open the innings as they continue their quest to find the ideal opening partner for Ben Duckett.

Confirmed XI: Jacob Bethell, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson, Josh Tongue, Adil Rashid

India

India's biggest problem is the Hardik Pandya hole in the XI. Will Shivam Dube get the nod or will the visitors stick to picking just the two spin bowling allrounders?

Probable XI: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Jasprit Bumrah

What to expect: The skies are expected to be clear for the game. The last time (May 2025) an ODI was played at this venue, England hammered 400 and bowled West Indies out for just 162. However, South Africa and Pakistan played out a low-scoring thriller just last month in the Women's T20 World Cup.

Batting all-rounder Jacob Bethell is set to open the batting alongside Ben Duckett as England announced their playing eleven for the opening One-day International (ODI) of the three-match series against India, to be played at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Tuesday.

The match will also mark a momentous personal milestone for wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler, who will be making his 200th ODI appearance. Buttler, a vital cog in England's white-ball set-up, made his 50-over international debut against Pakistan in Dubai back on February 21, 2012, and has amassed 5,515 runs so far at an average of 39.11, including hitting 11 centuries and 29 fifties.

Did you know:

Since the start of the 2023 World Cup, only Zimbabwe have a lower win percentage than England in the ODI format among full-member teams.

Bumrah hasn't played an ODI since the 2023 World Cup final.

What they said:

"If any team has an experienced lineup, then experience helps a lot in pressure situations because you've been in that situation many times and have done well and badly. You get a sense of calmness when you're under pressure. So I think experience is very important in any lineup" - Shubman Gill

Veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will not only have to perform for themselves but also play a key role in lifting the sagging Indian spirits against an upbeat England when the two sides clash in a three-match ODI series, starting in Birmingham on Tuesday. Kohli and Rohit, along with Jasprit Bumrah, are back in the mix to play the format in which bilaterals have been losing both context and sheen amid growing popularity of T20 cricket. The 39-year-old Rohit and the soon-to-be 38 Kohli still have the fire in their bellies and the runs to show for their efforts as they aim for a ODI World Cup swansong.

Facing Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue on tracks, which are spicier compared to sub-continental featherbeds, is a different challenge. But the duo has smashed English bowlers enough over the years to know what is required of them.

But their presence for this series certainly holds more significance after the Indian team, under a new T20 skipper Shreyas Iyer, lost all but one of its seven T20I matches in the ongoing tour.

The only match they didn't lose was a game that got abandoned. The 0-2 defeat versus Ireland and 0-4 thrashing handed by England has opened a Pandora's Box with BCCI calling for a performance review.

In this backdrop, a team management, which hasn't exactly made things easier for the two modern day legends, will be compelled to welcome them with open arms in order to stem the rot.

An ODI series win can hardly gloss over the inadequacies of T20 squad's disastrous show but it would certainly work as a confidence-booster.

The return of skipper Shubman Gill, another prolific 50-over batter and the experienced KL Rahul, makes it a fabulous quartet of top-order batters, who can turn any game on its head.

Add Shreyas Iyer to the mix, and there should be little concern about the batting unit.

However, it is the bowling unit that needs to do some serious strategic thinking even as Bumrah, after a well-earned rest, makes a comeback.

India's new fast bowling hope Gurnoor Brar, after an impressive start against Afghanistan at home, will face a completely different challenge with his lengths on English tracks. Arshdeep Singh will certainly add dimension as the left-arm seamer in the pack while Shivam Dube, a forced choice due to the absence of an injured Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy, will be the fourth seamer at Edgbaston.

Both Washington Sundar and Axar Patel were massive disappointments during the T20I series in both batting and bowling. But they are unlikely to bear any consequences as they outscore the team's best spinner, Kuldeep Yadav, on perception of "better willow wielding" abilities.

Kuldeep, by a country mile, is a better spinner and the only one among the three with an ability to turn the ball even when there is nothing on offer from the surface.

One advantage that India will have against England is that the hosts haven't played any 50-over cricket since January 27 when they were on an away tour of Sri Lanka.

Having played a lot of T20 cricket and a few Tests (against New Zealand), England will also need to get back into the groove for the format even though the high of a one-sided T20 series will keep them in perfect mental frame.