England’s captain, Jos Buttler, won the toss and chose to bat first in the opening ODI against India at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday.
Following an exciting 4-1 victory in the recent T20I series, India and England now turn their focus to ODIs, a crucial series for both teams to finalize their squads ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy.
Before the toss, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Harshit Rana received their maiden ODI caps, marking their debut for India in this format.
India will be without star player Virat Kohli, who is sidelined with a knee issue. Rishabh Pant also misses out from the playing XI, and KL Rahul will take on wicketkeeping duties in his absence.
On the other hand, England’s playing XI remains largely unchanged from the T20I series, with the notable inclusion of Joe Root, who replaces Jamie Overton.
After winning the toss, England’s Buttler said, “We will bat first today. There’s a good atmosphere in the dressing room, and we’re excited for these ODIs. It’s great to welcome back Joe Root. The morale is high, and we’ve been well taken care of by Baz (McCullum). It’s going to be a tough challenge against a top side in their conditions ahead of the Champions Trophy. We’re playing with three pacers and an extra spin-bowling all-rounder.”
India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, expressed his team’s eagerness to bowl first but emphasized that it wasn’t a major concern. He said, “We wanted to bowl first, but it doesn’t matter much. We need to be aggressive with the ball at the start and perform well throughout. It’s a fresh start and a great opportunity to do well. It’s important to get game time and make the most of it. Jaiswal and Harshit are debuting today, and unfortunately, Virat is out due to a knee problem from last night.”
England Playing XI: Ben Duckett, Phil Salt, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (C), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood.
India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
