Nagpur, Feb 6 (IANS): Virat Kohli missed out because of a right knee injury as England won the toss and elected to bat first in the opening ODI of the three-match series against England at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium here on Thursday.
With Kohli out, India decided to give debut caps to opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and pace-bowling allrounder Harshit Rana. Jaiswal was handed his first cap by head coach Gautam Gambhir while senior pacer Mohammed Shami did the honours for Harshit Rana.
India captain Rohit Sharma informed at the toss that Kohli had suffered an injury to his right knee during practice on Wednesday evening and therefore was withdrawn from the first ODI. It's a big setback for India as the team management would have liked their most experienced batter to have played all three ODIs ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy.
England captain Jos Buttler said that experienced batter Joe Root came into the ODI squad after their debacle in the T20I series. England also decided to go in with three pacers.
"We’ll bat first. It’s great to have Joe Root back—his experience adds strength to our side. The team morale is high, and we’re looking forward to the challenge ahead. Facing India in these conditions is a tough test, but it’s the perfect preparation for the Champions Trophy. We’ve gone with three seamers today and are ready for the battle."
India captain Rohit Sharma would have bowled first on winning the toss. "We would have bowled first, but regardless of the toss, it's about executing our plans. Now that we're bowling first, we aim to start aggressively and set the tone early. It’s good to be back after a break, it's time to reflect and refocus.
Rohit said it is a good opportunity for them to gain some match time before the Champions Trophy. "This series is a great opportunity to fine-tune our game ahead of the Champions Trophy, especially since we haven't played much ODI cricket since the World Cup. Jaiswal and Harshit make their debuts today, which is exciting. Unfortunately, Virat misses out due to a knee injury. We’re going with five batters, three all-rounders, one spinner, and two seamers."
Playing XIs:
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami
England: Ben Duckett, Phil Salt (wk), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (capt), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood.