🏏India tour of England, 2026: England vs India, 1st ODI,🏏 - Page 6

10:00 Local Time, 09:00 GMT, 14:30 IST: It has been a tough few weeks for the Indian men's team - they were trounced twice in three days by Ireland and if that humiliation wasn't bad enough, they have been beaten to pulp by England in the recent T20I series. All those losses though came in the shortest format of the game - today, they begin their preparations for the 2027 50-over World Cup in the right earnest. Beginning with today's game, India are set to play a minimum of 20 ODIs as they look to go one better on their 2023 finish. The return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli adds more muscle and experience to the batting unit, but it will be the return of Jasprit Bumrah which is highly anticipated. India's bowling lacked the bite in the recent losses and the presence of the talisman could bring in the much-needed change. However, the absence of both Hardik Pandya and Nitish Reddy will mean they'll have to sacrifice their best XI to bring in some balance.

Pitch Report | Varun Aaron: "It might be good for the fast bowlers in the first innings., There's a good covering of grass. There's a lot of moisture content. The team winning the toss will want to bowl first."

On the other hand, England are riding a wave of confidence and will back themselves to continue with their winning momentum. They have already named the playing XI - Jacob Bethell keeps his place at the top of the order and they bat deep, with Liam Dawson at 8. They have the bases covered and will pose a tough challenge to an under-fire Indian unit. But India's ODI batting is a different kettle of fish and we should be in for an absorbing 3-match series. Indian has an impressive H2H record against England over the past 10 years (11 wins as against 6 losses). They've a positive record here in Edgbaston as well (3 wins as against 2 losses), but England are unbeaten here in the last three games. Can India get back to winning ways? Toss and team news coming up shortly..

Harry Brook - We will have a bat today. Looks like a good surface, don't know what will happen, but fancy our chances to bat well and hopefully see some spin in the second innings. Assess the conditions as quickly as possible. Having similar players in T20Is and ODIs brings a sense of confidence for the captain and the players. We have struggled over the last couple of years, but we can turn the page and we've the side for that. We've gone with two spinners and three seamers.

England have won the toss and have opted to bat

Brookie shared a laugh with RaviAbout his last playing 11 declaration, this time he made it curious Funny-fellow

Shubman Gill - We were looking to bowl first. Most of the boys have played T20Is, the rest have had a good training and are set for today. Important series fr us, the preparations start from here - the type of combinations we can try and give chances for some of the guys who yhave less experience. Most of the seniors are back - Virat bhai, Rohit bhai and KL. Very excited for the series; have good memories here. We've got 4 seamers with Dube and two spinners - Washy and Axar.

Axar and Sundar are still there??

Originally posted by: Viswasruti

Axar and Sundar are still there??

Pk too

Jos Butler s 200 th appearance n ODI 🩵

https://x.com/Sportskeeda/status/2076964775469400568

https://x.com/CricCrazyJohns/status/2076964714400342465

From GT

Prasidh

Gill

Washington