India's Big Gains in One-Day Series Win Against England

Rohit-led team managed to answer key queries ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy from Feb 19

- Rasesh Mandani

MBAI: While traversing the distance between the Eastern and Western coasts of India, from Odisha to Gujarat, playing in different conditions and ground dimensions, India were able to hand a 3-0 hammering to England.

This ODI series victory was the first real positive result for the Rohit Sharma-Gautam Gambhir partnership. And coming as it did after the low of the Australian tour, it may ease the mood within the team. However, India shouldn't get carried away with the series result. The Champions Trophy will be a far stiffer challenge; what with the pressures of a world event and matches against different opponents demanding distinct strategies.

To begin with, the England series helped India identify their preferred first 11. Be it after a round of trial and error. Gambhir has been sold to the idea of using left-right batting combinations as a tactical weapon. India began by handing out a debut to Yashasvi Jaiswal to partner Rohit at the top. Jaiswal's opportunity was to come at Shreyas Iyer's expense in the middle order, until Virat Kohli got injured. By the end of the series, Jaiswal has been phased out of the squad and Iyer came through with flying colours at No. 4. Shubman Gill reunited with Rohit, their opening partnership has been one of the most prolific in recent years.