England playing XI for 1st ODI against India announced, Joe Root returns

England have announced their Playing XI for the first ODI against India to be played at VCA Stadium, Nagpur on February 6. Veteran batter Joe Root is back in the ODI team and is slotted at the No. 3 spot. It will be Root's first ODI outing in more than a year.

Jos Buttler will continue to lead the side and will play in the middle order as he usually does in this format. The Playing XI looks quite similar to the one that played in the T20I series recently. All the players except Joe Root played in the T20I series against India.

Also read: ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Umpires, Match referees for tournament announced, Nitin Menon snubbed

England announce Playing XI for 1st ODI vs India

For the first time since 2023... Joe Root is back in ODI colours 😍

Your England team to face India tomorrow 🔜 pic.twitter.com/M7AEPCPpxk

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 5, 2025

The squad looks quite balanced and strong with plenty of firepower in it. England have opted to go with a quality fast bowling attack which will be spearheaded by Jofra Archer. Talented pacemen Brydon Carse and Saqib Mahmood are the other two fast-bowling options.

The spin attack will be led by the legspinner Adil Rashid who has been the team's frontline spinner in the white-ball formats for quite some time now. Liam Livingstone is also likely to roll his arm over for some crucial over as the fifth bowling option.

Livingstone has the unique ability to bowl both offspin and legspin. Joe Root is likely to bowl some crucial overs of offspin as well. Root is a skilled spin bowler and can be useful in the middle overs. Apart from Livingstone and Root, allrounder Jacob Bethell can also bowl left-arm spin.

England's strong batting order

England's batting is their strength with plenty of firepower in it. They have retained both their openers for the T20I series Phil Salt and Ben Duckett. Joe Root will bat at No. 3 and is expected to be the rock of this batting line-up.

Talented batter Harry Brook is likely to bat at No. 4 while Jos Buttler will play at No. 5. Phil Salt took the gloves in the T20I series and it remains to be seen whether Buttler takes back the gloves for this format.

Liam Livingstone has been tasked with the finisher's role at No. 6. Livingstone has the experience and the big-hitting ability to go big in the slog overs. England also have the talent of the young allrounder Jacob Bethell at No. 7.

Challenge for Indian bowlers

With such a powerful batting line-up, it won't be easy for India to stop this English team. The Indian bowlers will certainly be challenged looking at the depth of this batting order.

The series becomes important for both the teams as they prepare for the upcoming Champions Trophy. Both the teams are in separate teams for the tournament but could meet each other in the knockout games.