Top two sides lock horns as India, England battle for ODI honours

Overview

India v England, 1st ODI
Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Tuesday, 23 March; 01.30pm local time, 08.00am GMT

India will hope to avoid losing another series opener, having tasted defeat in the first match of both the Tests and the T20Is against England. The hosts showed remarkable resilience to come back from the deficit to win each of those series.

A winning start for India will be particularly important as they can climb from second to top spot on the ICC Men's ODI rankings if they beat England 3-0.

That will be easier said than done. England, sitting atop the Men's ODI rankings and world champions after so thrillingly winning the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019, will make for stern opposition.

However, the visitors will be missing key personnel for the series. Jofra Archer has been deemed unfit with an elbow injury, while Joe Root, the Test captain and their crucial No.3, also sits out. Mark Wood is expected to replace Archer and lead the attack against India, with fellow-quick Reece Topley and leg-spinner Matt Parkinson also named in the squad.

India are expected to continue with the tried-and-trusted opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. However, there could be changes in the pipeline lower down the order, with Suryakumar Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, and Krunal Pandya all named in the squad following impressive performances in the domestic circuit.

Suryakumar, in fact, will be hopeful of making his ODI debut, having impressed after being handed his international debut in the T20Is, claiming the Player of the Match award in the fourth T20I.

For both teams, the series offers a key opportunity to pick up points in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League. England currently sit third on the rankings with 30 points but can move to the top by winning two ODIs against India.

India sit 10th with nine points and will be intent on making up for lost ground.

Remember Last Time

The last time India faced England in an ODI was during the World Cup in 2019 in Edgbaston. Rohit Sharma’s century went in vain on that occasion as Jonny Bairstow's thrilling knock of 111 propelled England to a 31-run victory. India went on to top the group stages, but England went on to famously lift the trophy.

Squads

India
Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), KL Rahul (wicket-keeper), Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Washington Sundar, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Md. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur.

England
Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Liam Livingstone, Matt Parkinson, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, Mark Wood

What they said

Virat Kohli, India captain: "As far as the opening combination is concerned, Shikhar and Rohit will definitely start. When it comes to one-day cricket I don't think there's any issues or doubts over Rohit or Shikhar opening together. They have been amazing for us for the past few years."

Chris Silverwood, England coach, on Jofra Archer: "We'll make sure that he's got every resource around him that we can and get to the bottom of what's going on, and hopefully get him back fighting fit for the future for England."