India have their big guns back for the ODI series against England which begins on Tuesday at Edgbaston – Richard Mann provides his preview and best bets here.
Cricket tips: England v India ODI
2pts both teams to score 300+ runs at 7/4 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power, Betfair)
1pt both teams to score 325+ runs at 4/1 (Sky Bet, Paddy Power, Betfair)
The circus that is English cricket delivered its latest show on Sunday, as Brendon McCullum was sacked as head coach just hours after the T20 team had secured a 4-0 series win over India which in the process took them to the top of the world rankings in that format.
McCullum has kept his job as head coach of the white-ball sides, and attention now turns to a three-match ODI series with India, beginning at 11:00 in Birmingham on Tuesday.
Such a frenzy around the team ahead of another series – a big one when you consider this has been England’s poorest format for a while now – is hardly ideal, but in this instance, it’s hard to know what else the ECB could’ve done in terms of timing, given the search for a new Test coach must begin quickly, with another series against Pakistan fast approaching.
Harry Brook and his team of players should at least have a spring in their step having performed so wonderfully well in that T20I series, though they will find India’s 50-over outfit a much tougher proposition.
For the tourists, back comes Shubman Gill as captain, a huge upgrade on Shreyas Iyer in terms of leadership, and the big guns really are in town for this one as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah also return to the set-up.
On what we have seen in the last few days, India will be delighted to have Bumrah back leading the bowling attack, England less so. Moreover, given the recent hot spell, wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav – who has a good record in England – is another welcome addition to the bowling unit.
However, all eyes will be India’s batting, and while the visitors’ struggles against the short ball was a microcosm of the T20I series, England won’t get much dice if employing the same tactics against Kohli and Rohit – two masters of the hook and pull shot.
And don’t be fooled by their advancing years, either. Kohli averaged 56.25 in this year’s edition of the IPL, while Rohit has worked incredibly hard on his fitness since retiring from Test cricket, displaying a leaner, more athletic figure who is clearly determined to make it to next year’s 50-over World Cup in South Africa.
His own form is good, too, having signed off from the recent series win over Afghanistan with scores of 48 and 79. He’ll open the batting with Gill, followed by Kohli, with Iyer and the brilliantly adaptable KL Rahul making up a top-class top five laced with skill and experience.
This is a much different batting line-up to the one India turned out in the T20I series. 50-over cricket has long been Kohli’s best format, and is now Rohit’s main focus, indeed his sole focus in terms of being an international cricketer.
Starting at Edgbaston should be a help to India, too, where they are sure to get plenty of support and be presented with a pitch that is generally very good for batting, and consistently so.
England pounded 400-8 against West Indies here last summer, and while that proved to be a mismatch, the previous ODI played on this ground in 2021 saw a reserve England XI successfully chase down 332 against Pakistan.
More recent evidence from this season’s T20 Blast would suggest conditions here remain very favourable for runscoring, and given the continued glorious weather forecast, I think backing big runs is the way to go.
England, we shouldn’t forget, have a red-hot Brook and a back-to-form Jos Buttler in their ranks, and that’s before we consider the returns of Joe Root, without question their best player in this format, and Ben Duckett who made a hundred in the last Test match against New Zealand.
BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE 300+ RUNS looks a solid starting point at 7/4, and I’ll top up with BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE 325+ RUNS at 4/1.
Posted at 19:10 BST on 12/07/26
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