1st ODI: England brace for more spin test, India focus on Rohit, Virat’s form

Nagpur, Feb 5 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Spin has been the England cricket team’s nemesis in the T20I series against India and it will continue to be their Achille’s heel in the three-match ODI series, which starts with the first match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium here on Thursday. They are also expected to be subjected to more spin inquisition in the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan.

Spinners played a big role in India’s 4-1 triumph in the T20I series with leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy tormenting the visitors by claiming 14 wickets in five matches, including a fifer in the third game in Rajkot, incidentally the only match in the series that England won.

They were hammered by Abhishek Sharma, who blazed to 135 off 54 balls — the highest score by an Indian in T20Is, in the final match at the Wankhede in Mumbai and then troubled by the spin again as they were bundled out for 97 in just within 11 overs.

England’s think tank is aware of their spin troubles and also the fact that all-format coach Brendon McCullum implored his batters to take on aggressively the spinners and go after the turning ball in T20 cricket after the series defeat to India. He will continue to advocate the same tactics to his batters in 50-over cricket considering that they will also face spin attack in the Champions Trophy.

England skipper Jos Buttler said they will continue to bat aggressively as they have been doing in all formats in recent times.

“We want to play in the same way. We want to find ways to put pressure on the opposition with the bat. They’ve got to take wickets.

“I think it’s crucial to see how, if you let guys bat for a period of time, they can go on to it,” said Jos Buttler in the pre-match press conference here on Wednesday.

Buttler said their bumbling 1-4 defeat to India in the T20Is was not because of issues with their style of play but rather due to poor execution of plans.

“It’s always about execution really. I think that’s the, you know, whatever plan you come up with, try and execute it well. We believe that the best way for us is to win games of cricket and get the best out of the players in our dressing room. So we’ll, we’ll double down on that,” said Buttler.

Considering their discomfiture against the slow-turning ball, India have reinforced their 50-over side by calling in Chakravarthy as a late inclusion. If one goes by how things are presently moving, the leg-spinner is likely to make his ODI debut on Thursday.

England are bracing themselves for another spin test on what the curator promises to be a pitch that will produce a 200-plus score but will also assist spinners in the second half of the match.

The Indian fans will be hoping to see skipper Rohit Sharma and seasoned batter Virat Kohli firing all cylinders considering the upcoming Champions Trophy.

Rohit had done well in ODIs at the 2023 World Cup at home and was India’s top scorer in the T20 World Cup last year while Kohli was exceptional in the T20 World Cup final, scoring 76 off 59 balls as India went on to win by seven runs.

Rohit had a good series against Sri Lanka after the T20 World Cup but Kohli went off the boil after that and has struggled ever since. Rohit has not done well in the Test series against New Zealand and Australia and also the lone domestic red-ball match he played after India’s BGT debacle Down Under.

The duo will be hoping to return to form ahead of the Champions Trophy and the subsequent 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League.

India are also going into the three ODI series without Jasprit Bumrah, who has been rested after the Australia red-ball series in which he bowled exceptionally well. However, the Indian thinktank will be closely monitoring Mohammed Shami, the hero of India’s surge to the final in the 2024 ODI World Cup. Shami picked a three-fer in the Wankhede T20I against England but some experts feel he still has to prove that he is back to his best following the injury and surgery that kept him out for nearly a year.

Arshdeep will be India’s pace spearhead in the series while the spin attack will be led by Ravindran Jadeja and it has to be seen who will partner him and Chakravarthy.

Overall, India and England have played 107 ODIs with India winning 58 and England 44 — two matches were tied and three ended in no results. In India, the two sides have clashed in 52 matches with India winning 34 and England 17 — 1 match was tied.

India have been quite successful at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha, winning four of the six matches they have played there. However, they have played only three ODIs in 2024, losing two matches while one ended in a tie.

While the overall record favours the hosts, the pitch at the stadium has been under scrutiny twice, being termed poor by the ICC on a couple of occasions. With England playing here after a few years, it promises to be a cracker of an encounter if the pitch holds to the promise made by the curator.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Ꮪhubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy.

England: Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, Jos Buttler, Jamie Smith, Philip Salt, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Mark Wood.

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