India, England look to tick what remains on their CT checklist

Can Virat Kohli take a leaf out of Rohit's playbook? © AFP
Jos Buttler smiled and acknowledged ODI greatness while fielding questions about Rohit Sharma's century in Cuttack. The India captain did not have a great start to 2025 with form deserting him, albeit in a different format. But just in time to take a shot at another 50-over ICC event, the big knock came along. Ravindra Jadeja reckoned it was 'great for the team', while Buttler himself chose to use it as a marker for his own side.

"He (Rohit) really showed that in this day and age, in the modern sort of way of playing 50-over cricket, it's very dynamic, very aggressive. He scored at a rate that just confirms really that the way we want to play is the right way.. the correct way to play cricket," Buttler said.

The theory is sound but England so far have not been able to put it fully to practice. In the two ODIs, they made identical, racy starts but were found wanting in the crucial middle-overs (11-40) where India threw a lot of spin at them. There were marginal gains from Nagpur to Cuttack (129/4 to 155/4) in their middle-overs returns but it was still grossly insufficient on a surface that got better for batting, which will be the case in the third ODI too. Ahmedabad gives their explosive top-seven one more opportunity to right the wrongs, particularly their batting against spin which yielded just 121 runs in 26 overs at a scoring rate of 4.65 in Cuttack.

India appear a lot more settled than their opposition heading into the last outing before the Champions Trophy. Virat Kohli taking a leaf out of Rohit's playbook to pull off a timely knock will be the icing on the cake for a team whose top-order has collectively been among the runs in this series.

There's of course the asterisk over the fitness status of Jasprit Bumrah, but the rest of the bowling attack has shaped up fine. That's perhaps down to both Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami coming through well on return and Ravindra Jadeja seamlessly getting into the groove of 50-over cricket.

When: India vs England, 3rd ODI, February 12, 2024, 02:30 PM IST

Where: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad

What to expect: Tougher batting conditions at a venue with the lowest average first innings score for the series (240). Big square boundaries will also impact batting plans and give bowling sides a crutch. Dew has made its presence felt here, with five out of the eight ODIs since 2017 won by chasing sides.

In the five games at the 2023 World Cup, spinners got more purchase in the first innings while the quicks swung the ball more under lights. This will have a bearing on what the captains decide at the toss.

Team News:

India

While announcing the squad, there was optimism about Jasprit Bumrah's availability for the third ODI, but there's no word yet on it. If he remains out, which seems likely, Arshdeep Singh will take over from Harshit Rana in the third ODI since the latter was named in the India squad only for the first two ODIs in place of the injured Bumrah. India could yet add Rana to the squad for this game and play him.

Rishabh Pant could get a game too, having sat out in the first two ODIs.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul/Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh, Varun CV, Mohammed Shami

England

The visitors could bring back Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer after resting them in the second fixture in Cuttack. England could also pick Tom Banton - the replacement player flown in for the injured Jacob Bethell - if they feel the need to beef up their batting. Banton last played an ODI in 2020 but has been in top-form in white-ball cricket. He arrives on the back of a successful ILT20 season where he scored 493 runs in 11 innings at an average of 54.78 and a strike rate of 151.69.

Probable XI: Philip Salt (w), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(c), Liam Livingstone, Tom Banton/Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson/Brydon Carse, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood/Jofra Archer

Did you know:

- Arshdeep Singh is India's leading wicket taker in ODIs post the 2023 World Cup, with 12 wickets in 5 matches

- Liam Livingstone has a strike rate of 190.16 in the death overs (41-50) in ODIs in 2024

- Rohit Sharma averages 50.57 in Ahmedabad, with 354 runs in 7 innings

- Following his half-century in Cuttack, Joe Root has the most 50-plus scores in ODIs for England (56), surpassing Eoin Morgan's tally

What they said:

"Sometimes, it just takes one or two innings to turn things around. The good thing is that, before an important tournament like the Champions Trophy, scoring a hundred is a huge boost. It's great for the team." -Ravindra Jadeja on Rohit Sharma's century in Cuttack.

"There are some positives there, we're making steps in the right direction but not the perfect complete performance with the bat [in Cuttack]. The cycle of the team, there's a few players who are just gaining experience and days like this are great lessons which is what you want - you want to accelerate that learning and keep pushing the guys in the right direction." - Jos Buttler on his team's batting.