England vs India, first ODI: Virat Kohli misses out as Rohit Sharma & Co return to 50-over cricket

After the recent focus on T20 cricket and the solitary Test match, India return to 50-over cricket as a three-match series against England gets underway at the Oval, London on Tuesday.

Rohit Sharma-led team will be without Virat Kohli at least for the first One Day International. The captain said at the toss that the star batter is being monitored after a niggle.

India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Rohit said Shreyas Iyer will bat at No 3.

“Virat Kohli and Arshdeep Singh were not considered for selection for the first ODI against England. Virat has a mild groin strain while Arshdeep has right abdominal strain. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring them,” said a statement on the Indian team’s official social media handle.

The last time India played ODI cricket was in Ahmedabad in a three-match series against West Indies that Rohit Sharma and Co won 3-0.

England are coming into this ODI series after an outing against Netherlands where they started off with a world record batting performance, underlining

India’s playing XI for first ODI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (Wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Full squad for 3 ODIs: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, J Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh

England’s playing XI for first ODI: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (c/Wk), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Craig Overton, David Willey, Brydon Carse, Reece Topley.

Full squad for 3 ODIs: Jos Buttler (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook,  Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey 

With Iyer slated to bat at No 3, there will also be focus on how he handles the short-ball strategy that is likely to come his way from the English bowlers. India will hope Suryakumar can carry on his form from the last T20I when he played a blinder in a run-chase, albeit in a losing cause.

India opted to go with a three-pronged pace attack, two spinners, and Hardik Pandya’s seam-up bowling option.

For England, big guns like Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow return to action in white-ball cricket after sitting out the T20Is.