In-form mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy is expected to get a debut to strengthen his case for inclusion in the Champions Trophy squad. He troubled the England batters in the T20Is after bamboozling Bangladesh in another home series last October.
The team management also have to make a tough choice for the spin all-rounder’s position.
Ravindra Jadeja, who hasn’t played an ODI since the 2023 ODI World Cup final, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar are all in contention and it is not yet clear how this will be settled.
England too will look to iron out the chinks in their armour and present a stronger challenge. But the task is easier said than done given that they have lost back-to-back 50-over series against Australia (in September) and West Indies (in November).
Joe Root is the only addition to the team to their batting line-up which will largely be the same as the one that struggled in the T20s.
Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith is likely to miss the first two ODIs due to a calf issue.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Rishabh Pant (WK), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohd. Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy.
England: Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Philip Salt, Jamie Smith, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.
Match starts 1:30pm IST.
