Birmingham. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will not only have to perform well for themselves in the three-match ODI series against England, but will also have to play an important role in boosting the morale of the Indian team, hurt by consecutive defeats in T20. Kohli, Rohit and Jasprit Bumrah are making a comeback to play in a format in which bilateral matches are losing their importance and luster due to the increasing popularity of T20 cricket. The first ODI match between India and England will be played on Tuesday, July 14 at 3:30 pm Indian time.
39 year old Rohit Sharma and soon 38 year old Virat Kohli still have the enthusiasm and passion intact. She is still among the best ODI players and her aim is to remain in the team till next year’s ODI World Cup. It is a different challenge to face accurate fast bowlers like Jofra Archer and Josh Tong on pitches that are more challenging than the subcontinent pitches. But Rohit and Kohli have thrashed the English bowlers over the years and are well aware of what is expected of them.
The responsibility of making Team India win is on Virat-Rohit.
The presence of these two legendary batsmen in the team for this series has become important because the Indian team under the leadership of new T20 captain Shreyas Iyer had lost all but one of its seven T20 International matches in the current tour (cancelled due to rain). India had to face defeat in both the matches against Ireland and the team is facing criticism due to the crushing 0-4 defeat at the hands of England.
The Indian team management has not made things easy for Rohit and Kohli but considering the situation the team is going through right now, it will be forced to welcome both of them with open hearts. Winning in ODI cannot hide the shortcomings of T20 but it will definitely boost the morale of the players. With the return of captain Shubman Gill and the presence of experienced KL Rahul, India has a great quartet of experienced batsmen, who can change the course of any match.
If Shreyas Iyer is also included in it, then there should not be much worry about the batting unit. But the same cannot be said for the bowling unit which will be strengthened by Bumrah’s return. India’s new fast bowler Gurnoor Brar will have to face a completely different challenge due to his length on the pitches of England. Arshdeep Singh will definitely add a new dimension to the team as a left-arm fast bowler, while Shivam Dubey will be the fourth fast bowler. Dubey has been included in the team under compulsion due to the absence of injured Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Both Washington Sundar and Akshar Patel had disappointing performances in both batting and bowling in the T20 series. But he will hardly have to bear the brunt of this because the Indian team management is giving importance to his batting and he is contributing more in batting than the team’s best spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
It will be beneficial for India against England that the host team has not played any ODI match since January 27. After playing a lot of T20s and a few Test matches (against New Zealand), England will have to get back to their rhythm for this format, although a resounding win in the T20s will be a huge boost to the morale of their players. The inclusion of Joe Root in the batting order will further strengthen England’s batting. In batting, his responsibility will depend on Harry Brook, Jacob Bethel and Jos Buttler.
The teams are as follows:
India: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar, Prince Yadav.
England: Harry Brook (captain), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (wk), Tom Banton, Joe Root, Jacob Bethel, Will Jacques, Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson, James Coles, Sam Curran, Gus Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Jos Tongue, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid.
