Iyer blitz, Gill poise guide India to facile victory in opening game

Shami comes through as spinners choke England, paving the way for India batters to win by 4 wickets

- Rasesh Mandani

NAGPUR: Starved of an ODI for six years and having had only three international matches across formats in the interim, for the 44,900 spectators this match was about coming out to celebrate an Indian win.

But for Rohit Sharma's India each of the three matches in this series against England is also about trying out ideas, experimenting with combinations and firming up plans before the Champions Trophy that starts in a fortnight. With a four-wicket win inside 39 overs on Thursday, India got some strong ticks around their strategy.

Rohit's form though remains a big concern. His batting has always been pleasing on the eye. But, of late, Rohit has lost the habit of scoring and his modes of dismissal have been ugly. Rohit walked out chasing 249 under lights with his new batting partner Yashasvi Jaiswal because Virat Kohli had to sit out with a sore right knee.

Rohit lasted seven deliveries, looked tentative and went away before he could change gears. He was late in transferring weight to an inswinger from Saqib Mahmood and spooned a catch to mid-on.

Shreyas Iyer is a batter who can goes unnoticed in a line-up studded with heavyweight names. But he has been as commanding as any Indian batter in ODIs. If anything, some of Iyer's technical shortcomings in other formats tend to weigh down his utility. Iyer later told broadcasters he wasn't slated to play, until Kohli's injury surfaced.