Team India will continue its preparations for the upcoming men’s ODI 50-over cricket World Cup in India in 2023 and will take on England in the three-match ODI series that begins on Tuesday evening July 12th. The fixture will be played at The Oval in London.
India will be playing their first game in the format since their emphatic 3-0 clean sweep of the West Indies in February earlier this year. The Men in Blue will have their full-strength squad for this series and thus we will be able to watch the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, and Prasidh Krishna don the Indian Blue jersey after a very long time.
England, meanwhile, heads into this series with a change in leadership setup after Eoin Morgan announced his retirement from international cricket at the end of the Netherlands ODI series. All eyes will be on Jos Buttler who has been named the new skipper of the Three Lions. The dynamic batter failed to replicate his form from the Netherlands ODI series to the recently concluded T20I series against India after gaining the responsibility to lead the Three Lions in the white-ball format.
What have they done so far?
Apart from their 3-0 whitewash against South Africa earlier this year, India has been exceptional in the longer format of limited-overs cricket. They have, in fact, won three of their last four bilateral series including a win over England at home, Sri Lanka away and West Indies since 2021.
Such has been India’s dominance that the Men in Blue have won six of their last 10 games that including a three-match win against the West Indies, two games against Sri Lanka, and also one against England in Pune in March 2021. The four losses that India has suffered during this period have all come on the bounce, one against Sri Lanka in July 2021 and three against South Africa earlier this year.
India is coming into the ODI series having won the T20I series 2-1
England themselves have been exceptional in the white-ball 50 overs format. They have won each of their last three ODI series without losing a single game. They have however lost one series against India prior to this streak in the sub-continent. The series wins include one over Sri Lanka, one over Pakistan and most recently against the Netherlands.
England’s brilliance in the format can be judged by the mere fact that they have won each of their last eight completed games on the bounce. In fact, since the beginning of 2021, England has played 12 men’s ODIs and has won nine of them. They have only lost two against the Men in Blue in their own backyard while one game in this period against Sri Lanka was abandoned due to consistent rains.
Head to Head Record
India has a significant advantage over England in men’s One Day Internationals. The two sides have played each other 103 times in the format and the Men in Blue have been victorious in 55 of those games. England, meanwhile, has won 43 of the encounters played between the two sides. Two games played between the two sides have ended in a tie whilst three games have had no results.
However, things are totally different when it comes to games played between the two sides in England and Wales. Here, it is the hosts who have an upper edge between the two teams in terms of matches won. England has 22 of the 42 games played between the two sides here. On the other hand, India has won mere 16 games. One game played between the two sides has also ended in a tie whilst three games have been abandoned and have had no results.
Key Players
Jos Buttler scored 162 off mere 70 deliveries against the Netherlands last month
Jos Buttler (England): Though he was not the leading run-scorer for England in the recently concluded T20I series, Buttler is still the Three Lions’ biggest weapon in their armoury. After an excellent 2022 Indian Premier League season, the 31-year-old took England’s last ODI series against the Netherlands by storm as he scored 162 runs from only 70 deliveries in the first match.
Buttler’s knock comprised of seven fours and twice as many sixes, whilst he also remained not out. The English skipper is easily one of the most dangerous willow-holders around in limited-overs cricket. Be it at the top of the middle-order, with Buttler around, bowlers can never feel safe and secure ahead of a game against England.
Jasprit Bumrah (India): Bowling, as always, will revolve around the ever-so-reliable Boom-boom Bumrah. His immaculate yorkers and death bowling skills are cause for envy for all the teams around the world. A bowler having an economy rate of less than five is a rare commodity in the modern era. Combined with his stupendous wicket-taking ability, Bumrah definitely is numero uno in white-ball cricket.
The speed merchant has been the wrecker-in-chief in the last four or five years for team India across formats and the same will be expected of him in this series as well. The Indian pacer will be spearheading India’s pace bowling attack against the English in the three-match ODI series alongside Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami.
Predicted Playing XI
England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Jos Buttler (C & WK), Ben Stokes, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Craig Overton, David Willey, Reece Topley
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
Prediction
These two nations are well-matched in ODI cricket and this could prove a cracking series, beginning in London. Although India suffered no slip-ups in their recently concluded T20I series against England despite their loss in the third T20I, they were pushed to the limit on a couple of occasions and they will need to improve against a side that will be further strengthened by the return of in-form Ben Stokes and Joe Root.
When taking into account the number of key players returning to the England squad for this ODI, not to mention the positive feeling currently coursing through English cricket as a whole, the sensible play here would be to back an England victory.