Kohli may bat at No. 4, India start as favourites
On a high after an impressive Twenty20 series win, an upbeat India will eye another dominant performance against hosts England in a three-match ODI series, which can be termed as a ‘dry run’ ahead of the World Cup next year.
With cricket’s blue riband tournament scheduled to be held in UK next year, the ODI series will give Virat Kohli an ideal opportunity to get a drift about the conditions that his men are expected to encounter at exactly same time next year.
While India will be buoyed by their 2-1 T20 series win, England, the top ranked ODI team in world cricket, come into the series having crushed a below-par Australia 6-0 in their last bilateral engagement.
England have been one of the finest 50 over sides in recent times and India will have their task cut against a batting line-up comprising Jos Buttler, Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Jonny Bairstow and Eoin Morgan.
Add Ben Stokes to it and England bear a formidable look. It is a reputation built on fearless, attacking cricket that has seen England win 46 out of 69 ODIs since a disastrous 2015 World Cup.
The series will also enable Indian team management to mix and match the various combinations, keeping World Cup in mind.
KL Rahul’s stupendous form has been a happy headache for the team management and there is a possibility that the captain might come at No. 4 in order to give Rahul a chance to make optimum use of his current form.
Rahul scored a 70 against Ireland and followed it by an unbeaten 101 against England in the first T20. He will, in all likelihood, be the missing jigsaw puzzle at the top of the order for skipper Kohli.
With both Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma being automatic selections at the top of the order, Rahul, who is also a specialist opener comes in at No. 3.
If the same batting order is followed, skipper Kohli, who has been world’s best ODI batsman by a distance, will have to drop himself a notch down at No. 4.
The seasoned pair of Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni along with allrounder Hardik Pandya are expected to form the middleorder.
Yuzvendra Chahal is a certainty as the wrist spinner and Kuldeep Yadav, who has created all sorts of doubts in the minds of the batsmen, may just comeback into the playing XI as the Trent Bridge ground is much bigger than the one at Bristol.
Rahul has made a case for himself in the shorter formats with a string of good scores but his batting position against England in the three-match ODI series will primarily depend on where skipper Virat Kohli wants to bat, said Indian team’s vice captain Rohit Sharma.
“Speaking of Rahul batting at 3 or 4, I don’t know where he'll bat in ODIs. Certainly he has been in great form. We have got to see tomorrow where he actually bats. It will either be No 3 or 4. I don't know where the captain wants to bat. That will be the most important question," Rohit said.
For England, the series against Australia was a real morale booster where the team scored a world record total 481 in one of the ODIs.