The India of Rohit and Kohli vs the England of Buttler and Root

Big picture: An air of vulnerability in both camps

There are two Indias.

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 Indias, 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 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 Root, both unsure of where exactly they stand in ODIs, with a major ODI tournament starting in two weeks’ time.

Form guide

India LLTWL (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
England LWLLW

In the spotlight: Hardik Pandya and Joe Root

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.

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. “He’s one of the great players of the game, in all the formats,” England’s captain Buttler said of Root in his pre-match press conference. “I’m excited to see him in this sort of phase of his career where I look at what he’s done in the Test stuff, where he’s not had the captaincy. He’s sort of back with that cheeky smile on his face, and really enjoying his cricket. I expect him to do exactly the same in this environment.” Apart from the smile, Root will also be expected to bring backbone to a line-up that has sometimes struggled to find the right tempo for 50-over cricket, as England have lost eight or more wickets in seven of their 11 ODIs since the World Cup.

Team news: England rest Mark Wood

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 (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul/Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 and 8 two of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mohammed Shami

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, Root and Jacob Bethell are expected to shoulder a considerable bowling workload.

England: 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Phil Salt (wk), 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook, 5 Jos Buttler (capt), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Jacob Bethell, 8 Brydon Carse, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Saqib Mahmood

Pitch and conditions

A clear, sunny day is expected in Nagpur with daytime temperatures in the low 30s. The pitch at the VCA Stadium over recent years has tended to offer a good amount of help to spinners, who also appreciate the long boundaries at this ground. The last three ODIs in Nagpur were all India-Australia contests won by the hosts: a memorable chase of 351 in 2013 powered by one of Kohli’s great hundreds, followed by significantly lower-scoring matches in 2017 and 2019.

Stats and trivia: Virat Kohli on cusp of 14,000

Quotes

“World Cup was one and a half years back, so clearly we need to regroup as a group now and think about what we need to do here […] It’s just about coming together now – because it’s been a while since we’ve played this format – it’s just about coming together and trying to [carry on from] where we left [off] during the World Cup. If it takes a little bit of time, so be it. It’s not easy to start what we did in the World Cup.”
Rohit Sharma is pragmatic as India return to the ODI format

“I look back on [the 2023] World Cup, and the two teams in the final were playing a really positive and aggressive brand of cricket. You think of the way Travis Head took that final on with the bat, you see it can be successful. This can be a great part of the world to play that fashion of cricket. Obviously Rohit [Sharma] takes a lot of credit for the way he’s come out and played himself as a captain and pushed India more towards that style of cricket. So, absolutely, we want to do exactly the same. We believe that’s the way that’ll give us the best chance of getting positive results.”
Jos Buttler is clear about the approach he wants England to adopt with the bat