Form of senior batters the focus in series vs England

The Indian team travels with less baggage now, after BCCI's recently imposed restrictions, but being able to enter the field without any mental baggage will be of far greater importance.

- Rasesh Mandani

NAGPUR:

While the T20 team has branched out and taken on a new look, India's ODI squad still has many of the batters who toured Australia. Moving on will be vital for them and the team, more so with the two senior pros, captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, at the back end of their careers.

It wasn't really a surprise that in the pre-series press conference, Rohit was reminded of his abysmal Test form and quizzed about his India future.

"What sort of a question is that?" he replied to one. "My focus is on these three games and the Champions Trophy, we will see what happens afterwards," he answered to another.

England, India's opponents in the ODI series starting Thursday, are more an extension of their T20I squad who were on show recently, except for the addition of Joe Root. Slightly different philosophies in squad composition aside, expect both teams to go equally hard.

The Indian selectors have trusted their experienced batting group to embrace the urgency that the modern game demands, just like they did 16 months back in the 2023 ODI World Cup. But there has been very little ODI cricket in between. Would that impact them in any way?

The three-match series will feel like a trial ahead of the Champions Trophy. Nagpur, Cuttack and Ahmedabad offer slightly different playing conditions to Dubai, where India will play all its games, and to Lahore and Karachi, where England play their Champions Trophy league games. But both teams will keep an eye on the dew with winter yet to fully retreat.

Spin ploy India have taken a punt by picking three spin-bowling all-rounders - Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar -in their squad. The idea of playing two in the 11 will be on trial in the series. Varun Chakravarthy's late inclusion may also be to explore if there is room for a last-minute change; lean for his mystery over one of the spin all-rounders.