Wednesday, July 11, 2018

India vs England 2018 1st ODI preview: Upbeat India look to give stiff challenge to England


The 3-match ODI series will give Virat Kohli and company an ideal opportunity to know the English conditions ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup next year. Catch live updates here.


India Vs England ODI : After an impressive T20 International (T20I) series win, India will eye another dominant performance against England when both teams lock horns for the 1st One Day International (ODI) match at Trent Bridge in Nottingham today. With ICC Cricket World Cup scheduled to be held in UK in 2019, the three-match ODI series will give Virat Kohli and Company an ideal opportunity to know the English conditions that Indian cricket team are expected to encounter at during their World Cup stint at exactly same time next year.

India will be going to play the 1st ODI on high after 2-1 T20I series win while England, the top-ranked ODI team in ICC men’s ODI Team rankings, coming into the series having crushed a below-par Australia 6-0 in their last bilateral engagement recently. England have been one of the finest 50 over sides in recent times and India will have their task cut against a batting line-up comprising Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Jonny Bairstow and Eoin Morgan with Ben Stokes as all-rounder makes the English side a formidable team.

It is a reputation built on fearless, attacking cricket that has seen England win 46 out of 69 ODIs since a disastrous ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. Their last bilateral series' defeat came in India in January 2017, with only a freak one-off loss to Scotland in the interim.

The 3 match ODI series will give Indian team management a chance to mix and matches various combination, keeping in mind the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. K L Rahul's stupendous form has been a happy headache for the team management and there is a possibility that the captain Virat Kohli might come at No 4 in order to give Rahul a chance to make optimum use of his current form. Rahul scored a 70 against Ireland and followed it by an unbeaten 101 against England in the first T20. He will, in all likelihood, be the missing jigsaw puzzle at the top of the order for skipper Kohli. With both Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma being automatic selections at the top of the order, Rahul, who is also a specialist opener comes in at No 3. If the same batting order is followed, skipper Kohli, who has been world's best ODI batsman by a distance, will have to drop himself a notch down at No 4.

Story By BS

No comments:

Post a Comment