India vs England 2018, First ODI - India Bowls First, Alex Hales Out With Injury

India won the toss and decided to field first against England in the first One-Day International at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

Here is what the captains said:

Virat Kohli:

We are gonna bowl first now. It looks like a hard pitch and does seem like changing much and it looks similar to Manchester. We have chased well so far in the T20Is and with our batting line up, it is a good toss to win. Our strengths are different. we are going to focus on our strengths. The two wrist spinners bowling 20 overs in the middle overs are going to play a massive role. We back ourselves to bowl first and let the opposition put a score on the board. Plus knowing that our batting is settled and strong, that forces the opposition to go harder than they should. We will just continue with the patterns that we have followed and back out strengths. I don’t think any team are focussing on the rankings at the moment. I am sure England will look to try out new players as well. Look for players who have the character to play in tough situations. We will look to test our bench strength. In India, England gave us a tough time. They are an explosive side and we expect them to come hard at us.”

Eoin Morgan:

“We would have liked to chase. The wicket though still looks good. Unfortunate, Alex has done his side. Joe Root goes up to 3. Stokes at 5. Ben coming in has given us an extra option with the ball. Joe is hungry for runs. The standards that Joe has set for himself are very high.”

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— BCCI (@BCCI) July 12, 2018

Preview:

With the 2019 World Cup less than a year away, the three-match series will be crucial for both teams to assess where they stand at the moment. With both the teams in stunning form in ODIs, this series will help them assess their strengths as well as weaknesses.

England, ranked top of the ODI rankings, have won ten of their last 12 bilateral series. On the other hand,  India have won their last nine. The last these two teams had met, it was an absolute run-fest. India had managed to win the series 2-1. The Men in Blue also won the last bilateral ODI series between the two sides in England when they thumped the hosts 3-1 four years ago.

Not only history but the momentum is also on India’s side. Virat Kohli & Co. had thoroughly dominated the T20Is to win it 2-1 and will be looking to assert their authority over the ODIs too. England, on their part, would be eager to show that they are the best ODI team in the world at the moment.

Both the teams, however, will miss some key players for the game. India and England will be without their best one-day seamers in Jasprit Bumrah and Chris Woakes. The hosts will be also without the services of Alex Hales for the series-opener. But the absence of these three notable names does not deplete the amount of quality that will be in show at Trent Bridge.

Playing elevens:

India:

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli(c), Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Siddarth Kaul, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav

England:

Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan(c), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Moeen Ali, David Willey, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood