India vs England 2021, 1st ODI: India’s Predicted XI

The hosts India are ready to face the visitors England in the first game of the three-match ODI series, which will be played this Tuesday (23rd March) at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium (Pune). It is the second ODI series for Indian team under the 2020-23 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League.

The Indian team has huge confidence at the present moment as they won the Test and T20I series against this England team and both those series victories achieved after trailing in those series.

India vs England 2021, 1st ODI: India’s Predicted XI

Rohit Sharma

Opener Rohit Sharma was in superb form in the Test series as he was the second most run-scorer in that series. While he was rested in the first two T2oIs, Rohit played a huge role in the last T20I match. Team management wants to see a similar form in the ODI series too.

Shikhar Dhawan

The left-handed opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan appeared in the first T20I of the five-match series against the visitors England where he scored 4 runs. Recently, he was in good form in domestic cricket but he needs to maintain his consistency.

Virat Kohli (C)

Indian captain Virat Kohli hasn’t scored an international century since November 2019. However, he is currently in strong form with the bat. After playing a couple of crucial knocks in the Test series against England, Kohli scored three half-centuries in the T20I series against England and finished that T20I series as the most run-scorer. After scoring two consecutive ducks, his last four innings scores were 73*, 77*, 1 and 80*.

KL Rahul

After not playing a single professional game for three months, KL Rahul recently played four T20Is but he had horrific performances in that series against England. His scores in that recently concluded home T20I series were 1, 0, 0 and 14 runs.

Shreyas Iyer

Another Indian cricketer Shreyas Iyer is also in strong form with the bat at present time. After performing strongly in the domestic List A tournament, Iyer featured in the five-match T20I series against England where his scores were 67, 8*, 9 and 37 runs respectively. When the team is in danger, he can play a strong role in batting.

Rishabh Pant (wk)

Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant is now improving in both batting and keeping aspects. The fearless left-handed batsman is playing the crucial game-changer role for the team and cricket fans and experts are enjoying it along with the teammates.

Hardik Pandya

All-rounder Hardik Pandya is now slowly coming to his real shape. While he was in good form during the limited-overs series in the recent Australia tour, he also played crucial roles during the recently concluded home T20I series against England. After he saved the team twice from the danger zone, Hardik played the firing knock in the last T20I where he scored 39 not out off 17 balls. He is also playing effective roles with the ball in hand.

Krunal Pandya

Krunal Pandya, who has experienced 18 T20Is, wasn’t selected for the recently concluded home T20I series against England. As he was in great form in the recent domestic tournaments, especially in the List A tournaments, he has a good chance to get his first ODI cap in this match. His left-arm spin bowling can help the Indian team to control the English batsmen.

Shardul Thakur

In the T20I series against England, the right-arm pacer Shardul Thakur was very much expensive but finished as the most wicket-taker in that series. In the crucial moments of that series, he brought breakthroughs for his team. His aggressive batting in the lower-order position is also a big plus point.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar

The right-arm pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is now slowly returning to his shape. In the recently concluded T20I series against England, he took four wickets in five games, but he improved consistently and played the crucial game-changing role in the series decider.

Yuzvendra Chahal

The leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal had a very tough time during the recent home T20I series against England where he got three wickets in the first three matches along with expensive bowling figures. However, he is a very important member of the present ODI side, especially when the bowling squad mostly has a lack of experiences.