Joe Root will feature in an ODI match for the first time since the 2023 World Cup. The former captain Joe Root will bat at No. 3 for England in the series opener in Nagpur on Thursday. Joe Root returned to the England ODI playing XI for the first time since 2023 as the tourists announced their team for the first of a three-match series, starting February 6 in Nagpur. Jos Buttler will lead the side which will have only four frontline bowlers, including spinner Adil Rashid.
England will look to bounce back from the recent 4-1 T20I series loss as they face a strong Indian line-up in the first ODI of the three-match series at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Thursday, February 06. With the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 just a few weeks away, both teams see this as a crucial opportunity to fine-tune their squads and regain momentum.
IND vs ENG : Previous Performances
The Men in Blue welcomes back its senior stars, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul, as they make their return to white-ball cricket after a brief gap. In 2024, India played just one ODI series, a shock 2-0 defeat to Sri Lanka. With Gautam Gambhir as head coach, the hosts will be looking to once again display their brilliance in this format.
However, India will be without pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who was quietly removed from the squad over his fitness concerns. The BCCI has made a last-minute inclusion to their squad, in the form of mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy who was the Player of the Series in the T20Is against the Three Lions.
For England, the ODI series will be a chance to recover from a disappointing T20I leg, where they suffered a 4-1 defeat. Jos Buttler’s men were largely outplayed by a young Indian side. However, England will be confident with the return of star batter Joe Root. With 6522 runs at an average of 47.60, Root’s presence will strengthen the English batting line up.
For England, this match presents an opportunity to salvage some pride and gain momentum ahead of the upcoming ODI series. While Jos Buttler’s men have shown glimpses of brilliance, consistency has eluded them. They will need to fire as a unit if they want to end their T20I campaign on a high.
IND vs ENG : Head to Head
As per ESPNCricinfo, India and England share a rich history of ODI clashes, having played 107 matches so far. The Men in Blue have won 58 games while England has won 44. Notably, two matches have ended in a tie (NR: 3). On Indian soil, the hosts have won 34 of the 52 ODIs against the Brits while losing 17 (NR: 1).
In ODIs, the two teams last met in the 2023 WC.
| Matches | 107 |
| Won by India | 58 |
| Won by England | 44 |
| No Result | 03 |
| Tied | 02 |
| First-ever Fixture | 13 July 1974 |
| Most-recent Fixture | 29 October 2023 |
IND vs ENG : Pitch Report
The surface at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur generally offers excellent batting conditions. There will be minimal help for the seamers, while the batters will enjoy the track’s even pace and bounce to score runs, especially when the ball is new and hard. The spinners are expected to get some turn in the middle overs.
The pitch in Nagpur historically has been helpful to the spinners and as we move into the summer season in India wickets tend to get drier hence it might not be one of those high-scoring games. India also in recent times has shown vulnerabilities against high-quality spin in ODI cricket however, England has one spinner in their squad Adil Rashid which will favour India.
The match will be played in Nagpur and the weather report is very promising. There is no prediction for rain in Nagpur on the match day. The temperature will be in the early 30s in the first half of the game and will drop into the 20s after the sunset. Talking about the pitch, batsmen are expected to enjoy their outing in the upcoming game. The average first innings total at the venue is close to 290 runs and the first ODI could turn out to be a high-scoring contest.
Day-time temperatures can tip over 45 degrees Celsius in Nagpur but this isn’t one of those months. Expect temperatures around 32 degrees when the teams line up for the anthems but with minimum temperatures hovering around 18 degrees, the dew is likely to kick in and have a say.
The day temperature in Nagpur on Thursday is expected to be 31 degrees centigrade according to Accuweather app and it falls down to 17 degrees centigrade in the evening. Due to the drop in the temperature as the evening goes dew might play a role hence team winning the toss might opt to bowl first to negate the spin threat. However, if there wouldn’t be any dew the wicket might get slower and slower.
The average first-innings score in Nagpur is 288 but the city hasn’t seen any ODI cricket for six years, so there’s little you can read into that stat. For, the big-hitting has evolved at a rapid pace in the meantime. India have won their last three matches at the venue, two of them chasing. Interestingly, captains have opted to bat first in three of the last five matches here, but they go back to the 2011 World Cup, a completely different era tactic-wise.
There have been nine ODIs played at this venue, with the last one being in March 2019 between India and Australia. Teams have enjoyed more success batting second, with six wins for the chasing sides as compared to three for batting first teams.
IND vs ENG : Big Picture : An air of vulnerability around form of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as India looks to built up for Champions Trophy 2025.
There are two India’s. There’s the India of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, an India that is, for the moment, scarred and uncertain. There’s also, at the same time, another India, an India of an assuredly post-Rohit, post-Kohli era, an India that has flown to dizzying heights over recent months. There are two India’s, but there are three formats. So where exactly do they stand, as the awkward middle format gets this rare chance in the spotlight.
India in ODIs are still the India of Rohit and Kohli, but what does that mean for India, Rohit, and Kohli? There are several questions hanging over India ahead of these three ODIs against England and the Champions Trophy that will follow, but this one, for now, seems the most urgent.
India’s journey from the ODI World Cup to the Champions Trophy was always meant to span nine matches. The issue isn’t that it’s too few; that’s just how the modern game rolls. It’s that only a third of them remain.
In fact, when India take the field in Nagpur, it will be their first home ODI since the World Cup, marking the end of a 14-month gap. It’s an unusually long break in a format they love to play and market at home but such are the times. And this scarcity of build-up ammo for Champions Trophy, especially in home conditions, where there’s more scope for fine-tuning, adds extra weight to the three-match series against England, a contest compelling enough to stand on its own even in a jam-packed cricket calendar.
The schedule is somewhat kind to India, given they start in Vidarbha rather than westward in Motera, where they famously lost the World Cup trophy to Australia in front of a record crowd. Not that it will stop people from lining up outside the stadium gates in Nagpur. If anything, the November 19 loss has only intensified India’s quest for an ODI trophy, enthusiasm for which spilled onto the Marine Drive when Rohit Sharma’s team returned home with the T20 World Cup aloft, just seven months after their heartbreak in the 50-over format.
India last played ODIs in August, when they lost 2-0 to Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. It seemed like an anomalous result then, but events that followed it have cast it in a different light. As India return to the 50-over format, then, they find themselves in an odd position. They are still more or less the same team that looked like one of the greatest of all time during their run to the World Cup final in 2023.
But even if the players are largely the same, they no longer play together day in and day out, so are they still the same team? And so many of them carry wounds from other battles, bringing to this group a distinct air of vulnerability.
But airs of vulnerability – and invincibility – come and go depending on results. India – the other India, admittedly – are fresh off a 4-1 T20I series win, and should count themselves as heavy favourites against an England side that’s coming off that T20I result, and is still trying to find its feet in ODIs after a poor 2023 World Cup.
And England, too, are fighting the awkwardness of this middle format. This is still the England of Jos Buttler and Joe Root, but neither played a single ODI in 2024. So here we are, then. The India of Rohit and Kohli versus the England of Buttler and Joe Root, both unsure of where exactly they stand in ODIs, with a major ODI tournament starting in two weeks’ time.
The upcoming Champions Trophy is India’s chance to end their drought, so expect them to leave no stone unturned in this ODI series, a prelude to the ICC event but also a postlude to yet another T20I series that’s reinforced one thing: the next generation is ready and round the corner.
IND vs ENG : Vital Stats that matters
- Both India (2-3) and England (4-7) have negative win-loss records in ODIs since the end of the 2023 World Cup.
- Kohli is 94 runs away from the 14,000-mark in ODIs. Only Sachin Tendulkar (18,426) and Kumar Sangakkara (14,234) have more runs in the format.
- Mohammed Shami is five wickets away from becoming the eighth India bowler to take 200 in ODIS.
- Since the last time they played together, which was at the 2023 World Cup, Buttler has played 23 games for England (three ODIs and 20 T20Is) and Root 17 (all Tests).
- Mohammed Shami has dismissed Jos Buttler five times in nine ODIs
- Harry Brook averages 71 since the 2023 World Cup
- Between them, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have scored 529 runs in 8 ODI innings in Nagpur, with three centuries and two half-centuries
- Jos Buttler has scored 221 runs and averages only 13.81 in 16 ODI innings in India, with a highest score of 43
- England’s only ODI series win in India came in 1984/85 and the last time they drew a series was back in 2002, losing each of the six series since
IND vs ENG : Team News
India :
India are expected to line up with their first-choice top six from the 2023 World Cup, with only the wicketkeeper’s slot under debate. Rishabh Pant could potentially come in ahead of KL Rahul thanks to his left-handedness. Meanwhile, Nagpur, with its large outfield and tendency for slow turners, is likely a three-spinner venue, which leaves India to choose two out of their three spin-bowling allrounders to partner Kuldeep Yadav, who returns for the first time since his hernia surgery.
India predicted XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Varun Chakravarthy/Kuldeep Yadav , Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami
England :
England have named their XI for the series-opener, with Mark Wood rested and Saqib Mahmood partnering Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse in the pace attack. With only four frontline bowlers, part-time spinners Liam Livingstone, Joe Root and Jacob Bethell are expected to shoulder a considerable bowling workload.
England batters have struggled to deal with the Indian spinners during the T20I series. They have had a hard time picking up the variations however, the introduction of Joe Root in the middle order might give some relief as he is among the best players of spin in modern cricket.
England Playing XI : Ben Duckett, Phil Salt (wk.), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (capt), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood
Ind vs Eng Fantasy XI : Ben Duckett, Phil Salt (wk.), Joe Root, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
IND vs ENG : In the spotlight: Hardik Pandya and Joe Root
Hardik Pandya :
Rohit and Kohli may be under more scrutiny at the moment, but arguably, no player is as important to India’s Champions Trophy hopes as Hardik Pandya is. Until his premature departure from the 2023 World Cup with an ankle injury, Hardik’s presence allowed India to have six bowling options, and gave them the luxury of playing a third frontline seamer or spinner depending on conditions. Hardik hasn’t played an ODI since that tournament, and as the next big one looms, India will hope his body can take a genuine allrounder’s workload once again.
Joe Root :
He has been out of England’s ODI side since their league-stage exit from the 2023 World Cup, but Joe Root is back, and will bat at No. 3. Joe Root last played for England in ODIs in the 2023 ODI World Cup against Pakistan at Eden Gardens. Joe Root was brought back to the ODI set-up ahead of the Champions Trophy as England needed someone who is capable of holding fort in the middle-overs in spin-friendly conditions in the subcontinent.
Joe Root will bat at No. 3 while Ben Duckett and Phil Salt will open the innings for England in the series opener. Joe Root heads into the ODI series on the back of a productive stint in SA20, South Africa’s premier franchise-based T20 tournament. Joe Root amassed 279 runs at an average of 55 and a healthy strike rate of 140.
The England star registered two fifties, with a highest score of 92. He also contributed with the ball, taking five wickets with his more-than-handy off-spin. Jos Buttler, speaking to the press in Nagpur on Wednesday, talked up the importance of having Joe Root back in the ODI set-up.
In the first ODI, England will look to rely on part-time spin-bowling from Livingstone, Bethell and Joe Root. The pace department will be led by Jofra Archer, who looked impressive in the recently-concluded T20I series. England trained at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur on Wednesday afternoon, getting used to the conditions.
IND vs ENG : Match Prediction
With the T20I series done and dusted, the focus now shifts to the ODIs. Both India and England will be keen to win the upcoming series in order to go to the Champions Trophy with the winning momentum. A good performance in the series will definitely enhance the confidence of the teams. Both sides will be keen to start the series on a winning note but India holds an upper hand considering England’s dismal performances against the spin bowling.