ELIZABETH BOTCHERBY looks ahead to some of the key battles that could impact and decide the ODI series between Virat Kohli’s India and Eoin Morgan’s England
India v England, first ODI: All you need to know
Liam Plunkett is the only member of England’s World Cup final XI to not feature in an ODI since the trophy was hoisted in July 2019. His spot is, therefore, up for grabs and with regular starters Jofra Archer (elbow) and Chris Woakes (rested) absent from this three-match series, several players have the opportunity to stake their claim to be Plunkett’s replacement.
Of the players included in the 14-man squad, seamer Mark Wood and spinner Adil Rashid played in the 2019 final and are shoo-ins for any starting XI. Tom Curran, meanwhile, has missed just two of England’s nine ODIs since the World Cup final, taking one wicket with an economy of 5.12 and scoring 114 runs, easily placing him in pole position. After failing to start a match during the World Cup and enduring a lean spell in T20 cricket, this is Curran’s best chance to re-establish himself as England’s go-to death bowler.
Of the rest, Sam Curran impressed against Australia with the ball last September, taking 3/35 in Manchester, and is rapidly developing into a confident three-format player. The big question mark is his 50-over batting. Fellow seamer Reece Topley has made just one ODI appearance since February 2016 – against Ireland in August – but has 94 wickets in 56 List A appearances.
Hoping to rival Rashid with spin are Moeen Ali – 85 wickets and 1,790 runs in 106 appearances– and Matt Parkinson, who has zero wickets in two appearances to date in his fledgling ODI career.
It’s unlikely all five contenders will get a game in India – with Roy, Bairstow, Morgan, Stokes, Buttler, Wood and Rashid present, there’s a maximum of four spots left unfilled on the team sheet and competition from batsmen Liam Livingstone and Sam Billings. So, whoever gets the nod with the ball in the first ODI needs to take their chance or risk missing out on entry into Morgan’s exclusive 50-over club.
Parkinson (top L), Sam and Tom Curran, Topley and Ali
When these two sides last met in an ODI series in summer 2018, Virat Kohli and Eoin Morgan were the second and third highest scorers, respectively. India’s captain scored 191 runs, including two half-centuries, with an average of 63.66 and a strike rate of 90.95. Morgan, captaining England, also scored two half-centuries and finished the three-match series with 160 runs, a healthy average of 80 and a strike rate of 89.38.
However, despite winning the personal battle, Kohli’s India lost the series 2-1 and also suffered a 31-run defeat during their most recent encounter - the group stage of the Cricket World Cup.
Fast forward to 2021 and Eoin Morgan’s side are on top of the world: reigning World Champions and first in the ICC rankings. India are second in the standings, but their captain is ranked as the best ODI batsman in the world (Morgan is 25th).
Having come from behind twice to win the T20 series, Kohli is gunning for a clean sweep of format wins against England this winter; Morgan is hoping to rain on his parade and leave the bio-bubble with a bang. And, on a personal level, Kohli outscored Morgan by 198 runs in the T20s – can he make it two from two?
As has already been discussed, England are without seamers Archer and Woakes for this series, leaving a sizeable whole in their bowling attack. India, too, are missing key bowlers, including pace men Bumrah, Navdeep Saini and Mohammed Shami, and spinning allrounder Ravindra Jadeja. With so many players missing, at first glance it’s hard to see ball dominating bat during this series.
However, in India’s Kuldeep Yadav and England’s Rashid, we have the two leading wicket-takers from summer 2018. Yadav took nine wickets with an economy of 4.93 with his slow left-arm wrist spin during that series; Rashid’s legbreak bowling dismissed six players and was 0.03 runs more expensive per over.
Since then, Rashid has taken 42 wickets in 33 matches, including one five-wicket haul against West Indies. The 33-year old, currently 32nd in the ICC rankings, played six matches in 2020, taking nine wickets and bowling with an economy of 5.48. Ranked 11 places higher in 21st, Yadav has played 38 matches since July 2018, taking 57 wickets and bowling best figures of 4/39 against New Zealand in 2019. In 2020, the 26-year old captured six wickets in five appearances for India.
Adil Rashid (L) and Kuldeep Yadav (R)
Representing seam on the undercard are Mark Wood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar – two bowlers born just 25 days apart, 90mph bullets versus economical medium pace, a World Cup winner versus a 114-cap veteran. However, in traditionally spin-friendly conditions, Yadav v Rashid is the main attraction. The Indian narrowly won the spin battle in England in 2018, can Rashid strike back on opposition soil?
Looking back at England’s Indian winter it’s fair to say they enjoyed Chennai more than Ahmedabad. Spoils shared in the former; two heavy Test defeats, a 3-2 T20I series loss and the disappointment of watching India hoist two trophies in the latter.
England’s players will therefore be welcoming the shift in proceedings from Ahmedabad to Pune - a venue not haunted by the ghosts of Ravi Ashwin and Axar Patel. However, the Maharashtra Stadium has not been a happy hunting ground for England: two visits, two defeats.
Fortunately, India also have a mixed record in the city, losing two of their four ODIs at the stadium. Another advantage for England is the absence of hostile Indian crowds following the decision of the Maharashtra government to stage the matches behind closed doors.
Although a different format, success in Pune would be a huge confidence boost for Morgan’s men ahead of this summer’s T20 World Cup. Lose, and they might have another bogey stadium on their minds…
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