India’s young star Rishabh Pant makes his World Cup debut as England won the toss and opted to bat in their key game on Sunday in Birmingham.
Pant, who was not named in the original 15-member squad, replaced Vijay Shankar in India’s XI from the previous game. The Tamil Nadu all-rounder is said to have a toe niggle.
For England, key opener Jason Roy returned to the starting line up.
Follow updates of India vs England here.
Eoin Morgan’s side, who have suffered two straight losses, need to win their remaining two league matches to guarantee a place in the semi-finals.
“It is a matter of two games to go, hopefully we can win two and go through. It will be a tough challenge today and we are looking forward to it,” Morgan said at the toss at Edgbaston.
Roy, who missed the last three games due to a hamstring injury and replaces James Vince, is one of the two changes in the side that lost the previous game to Australia.
“It is not a big risk. There is always an element of risk but Jason has trained well the last week and is fit to play,” Morgan said on Roy’s inclusion.
Moeen Ali makes way for Liam Plunkett with Morgan calling it a “tactical” switch.
Kohli-led India made just the one change to their team that has remained unbeaten in the tournament with five victories and a washout. Pant was a late replacement in the squad for the injured Shikhar Dhawan.
India, who recently displaced England from the top of ODI rankings, need one win out of the remaining three matches to book their final four spot.
“It is never a problem chasing, I would have batted as well. It’s a good challenge for us, we are up for it,” said Kohli.
“We haven’t focused on the opposition to be honest, we have been finding ways to win games regardless. It’s all about what you do on the day.”
Kohli added, “Vijay Shankar has a bit of a toe niggle, Rishabh Pant comes in for him. We’ve all seen what he can do with the bat. He’ll bring a lot of flair and fearlessness, once he gets going, he’s difficult to stop. There’s one short boundary as well.”
Speaking about the importance of this game for other teams in the race for top four, Kohli said, “Crunch result on the outside as well, so I’m sure the fans of the Pakistan team will be supporting us today, which is a rare thing.
Teams:
England: Eoin Morgan (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wkt), Liam Plunkett, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wkt), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah