Big Picture: India in the ascendancy at last
Not many sides recover from a middle-order collapse of 5 for 19 in 27 balls, and sure enough England did not, even though Joe Root and Liam Dawson did their utmost with a spirited stand of 121 that at least permitted a token score on the board. Root, however, should have joined the collapse on 7, when Shivam Dube dropped a return catch, and gutsy though Dawson proved to be in making his maiden ODI fifty, he clearly should not have been playing at all, given how badly England misread their own conditions.
His mere presence denied Brook the chance to peel off some cheap spin overs and spread his spearheads more widely, and though his retirement with a century in sight was a concern to his camp, it appears he suffered nothing more serious than an attack of cramp.
Fundamentally, however, Bumrah showed the value of a bit of R and R. After a tough IPL by his immense standards, he was back to his ruthless best in his first competitive outing since May, and where he led the line, Prasidh Krishna and the energetic Gurnoor Brar were able to slipstream his standards and leave an unconvincing England team in the mire.
Irrespective of their impressive displays in the T20Is, England’s ODI shortcomings show no immediate sign of a redress. Their rock of ages, Root, showed once more the technique and concentration required to make the most of a full 50-over innings, but too few of his team-mates yet have the know-how to do likewise. Which is why these next two matches, against a team containing some of the greatest ODI cricketers of all time, will be so crucial to their education, no matter which side of the result they end up on.
Form Guide
England: LWWLL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India: WWWWL
In the spotlight: Jacob Bethell and Gurnoor Brar
Team news: More quicks in prospect
England’s misread of the Edgbaston pitch was a significant error, and not one they are likely to make again. Despite his excellent batting, Dawson is the likely fall guy for Cardiff’s rectangular dimensions, with the onus on including an extra pace option. Josh Tongue and Jofra Archer have both had heavy workloads – from the New Zealand Test series and on into five of the last six white-ball games – so either or both could be due a break. Brydon Carse, newly added to the squad, might slot in, with Saqib Mahmood and Gus Atkinson the other options.
England (possible): 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Jacob Bethell, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Josh Tongue/Brydon Carse, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Adil Rashid.
With Gill apparently fit after his batting retirement on Tuesday, and having located their winning formula at Edgbaston, there are no over-riding reasons for India to make changes. Arshdeep Singh waits in the wings as a seam-bowling reinforcement.
India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 Axar Patel, 6 KL Rahul (wk), 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Shivam Dube, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Gurnoor Brar, 11 Prasidh Krishna.
Pitch and conditions:
Stats and trivia:
- Cardiff is something of a stronghold for England, with ten wins in 14 completed ODIs at the venue, dating back to 2010.
- India, however, has a 3-1 winning record in its four matches there so far. They lost by six wickets to England in 2011, but won by 133 runs on their return three years later. In between whiles they beat both Sri Lanka and South Africa in 2013, en route to Champions Trophy glory.
- Prasidh Krishna needs three more wickets to reach 50 in ODIs.
- Shubman Gill returns to the ground he briefly called home, having spent three matches as Glamorgan’s overseas player in September 2022.
Quotes:
“At the age I’ve got to, I never thought I’d play as much as I have in the last year. Obviously I’m very pleased to be back playing and I can hopefully continue to contribute.”
Liam Dawson is enjoying a new lease of life at 36.
“When you see your middle order score like that, you get a lot of confidence as captain and as a top-order batter. It gives you confidence and means you can start attacking early on.”
Shubman Gill took pleasure in Axar Patel and Washington Sundar’s partnership at Edgbaston.
Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo. @miller_cricket
