England vs India, 1st ODI Preview: Change in format unlikely to bring about change in tempo
Big guns Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow will be back to bolster the England outfit.
Big guns return
If the T20Is are anything to go by, we should have another high-octane series on our hands. England haven't played a whole lot of one day international cricket since the last year till they met Netherlands recently. Big guns Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow are back in the England squad after a break following four back to back Test matches.
Bairstow will slot in right back with Jason Roy at the top of the order. Roy is not in the best of form and is being pushed by Phil Salt who has performed on every opportunity he has got in recent times.
Joe Root will be back at number 3 in the England ODI side after a long time. With Dawid Malan at 4, Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone, Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali will provide the firepower in the England middle order.
Sam Curran and David Willey are also very capable all rounders. Reece Topley had a wonderful outing in the T20 series and is ready for the ODIs.
On the wrong side of 30, Dhawan needs a couple of pearlers
For India, Shikhar Dhawan will be back in Blue after a long time. The southpaw was made captain of the Indian side for the Sri Lanka series last year but isn't part of the team's plans in the T20 side now.
With him not playing Test cricket either, this is the only format in which he's still a regular for India and would want to keep his place till the next World Cup. The chances of that seem fairly high, especially after he has been named captain for the ODI leg of the upcoming India tour of West Indies. However, he will have to perform consistently for that to materialize.
Virat Kohli showed signs of domination in the third T20 albeit for just 9 balls. Kohli will prefer this format as the worst thing you can have as an out of form batter is to not get friendly pitches.
He has either been playing on rank turners in India or against world class pace attacks in difficult pitches in Tests. The ODI format will allow him the breathing time and the surfaces won't be as juicy as in Test cricket. The stage is set for a big one from the former Indian captain.
Suryakumar Yadav struck a magnificent century in the third T20 International against England and should play ahead of Shreyas Iyer at number 4. Rishabh pant and Hardik Pandya will bat number 5 and number 6 respectively and play the role of the finishers.
So will Ravindra Jadeja at the number 7. However, the team will expect him to bowl a bit more consistently and deliver at least 5 to 6 good overs while sharing the load with Hardik Pandya.
What will India's attack look like?
At number 8, India can go with any one of Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah or Prasidh Krishna depending on what they want to achieve.
If they want to bring back Thakur into the fold in white ball cricket after a long break, they can go for him. Prasidh Krishna had a brilliant outing against England in the last ODI series between the two sides and can be considered given the real pace and bounce he is capable of producing.
Bumrah is your tried and tested player who you go with when you have the single minded focus of winning. Arshdeep Singh impressed on his India debut and is likely to get another game. Yuzvendra Chahal will be India's leading spinner.
Predicted Playing XIs
England - Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Dawid Malan, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, David Willey, Reece Topley
India - Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/J Bumrah/ Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
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