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India and England ODI Series

by Deepanshu Srivastava

In the recent tour of England, India played one – held test match of the test – series of which four tests were played last September, three T 20 Is and three ODIs. In these matches, team India, comprising mostly of young cricketers, showed excellent cricketing skills with bat and ball resulting in the clinching of both the series of the shorter version of the game. The test series in which India was leading 2 – 1 ended in a 2 – 2 draw with the first test ending without a result after more than two days of play getting washed out.T 20 I SERIES: –The three-match T 20 I series was dominated by the young cricketers of India in every department of the game. The first two matches of the series were won by Team India which resulted in a lead of 2 – 0. The first T 20 match was memorable for both the captains – Rohit Sharma and Jos Buttler. Buttler lost his first match as a T 20 I captain of England who individually got out for a golden duck. For Rohit Sharma, it was the hitman’s thirteenth consecutive win as a T 20 I captain. India took advantage of leading by 2 – 0 in the series and fielded all new cap speedsters for the third T 20 including Jammu express Umran Malik and newbie Arshdeep Singh. This was a good move to give youngsters exposure to playing on an overseas pitch. All the young speedsters played their hearts out for the team and restricted the star-studded English team’s victory just by 17 runs and the seriesended with 2 – 1.ODI SERIES: –With the T 20 I World Cup getting closer, the two series were seen as a trial for the players. Although India won this series by 2 – 1 despite star players Sharma and Kohli struggling to find their forms, it is necessary to examine the performance of each player in the light of the coming World Cup.#. PERFORMANCE OF BATTERS: –Captain Rohit Sharma had an excellent start to the ODI series with 76* from 58 balls paving way for an emphatic victory by ten wickets and acknowledging the efforts of the bowlers who wrapped up the English innings for merely 110 runs. But, the hitman failed miserably in the remaining two matches of the series finishing with just 93 runs in the entire series. The blue-eyed boy of cricket lovers Virat Kohli disappointed like on many other occasions and scored 16 and 17 in the two matches that he got to bat. Perhaps, he is paying for his habit of edging outswingers as on both occasions he succumbed to England’s express left-arm pacers Willey and Topley. The performance of these two stars of Indian cricket is indeed a cause of concern for the selectors and sports – lovers alike. The third ODI will be remembered for the grand show by wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant who slammed his maiden ODI century of 125* hitting ruthlessly 16 boundaries and 02 sixes on the bowling of all English pacers all along the ground. Particularly he was merciless towards his bowling of Willey and hit five consecutive fours inone over. It was amazing to see Pant desisting his in-built attacking instinct and batting so cautiously to build – up his inning of 125*. He also showed good keeping skills and took five catches behind the stumps in the series. India’s new hero in the shorter version of the game is none other than Hardik Pandya. He has repeatedly proved himself an important player for team India in the two shorter formats of the game. His heroics in the game started with winning the IPL – 2022 for the Gujarat Titans (GT) and since then he has not disappointed cricket lovers. His spell of 4 / 24 in 07 overs coupled with quickfire 71 runs from 55 balls helped team India to win the ODI series. Making 100 runs in the series and taking 06 wickets with an average of 4. 35 speak of his excellent form with bat and ball before the World Cup. Disappointments came from Shikhar Dhawan, Suryakumar Yadav ( SKY ), and R. Jadeja. Dhawan, an experienced and dependable opener for India in no way proved himself to be in the squad of team India for the World Cup. In ODIs – 2 and 3, he fell prey to the quality pacer Topley finding himself uncomfortable against the speedster and could score only 10 runs. In ODI – 1, he used 54 balls of the powerplay to make only 31. Suryakumar Yadav got to play only two innings and scored only 43 runs in the two games. An impressive hitter of the white ball, SKY was far behind for which he is known. The second all-rounder of the team, Ravindra Jadeja struggled throughout the series with his form and could claim only one wicket in nine overs in the two games that he got to play.#. PERFORMANCE OF BOWLERS: –India played with its four pacers: – Bumrah, Md. Shami, two newcomers – Md. Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. With his quality outswingers and superb Yorkers coupled with a speed of 135 and more, Bumrah is bound to be the most dangerous bowler on overseas pitches. Team India has high hopes for him in the upcoming World Cup. In this ODI series, he became the highest wicket-taker for India with eight wickets at an economy rate of 3. 92. He bowled his career – best of 6 / 19 in the first ODI and was responsible for sending the top batting order of England resulting in England’s total score of 110. Another match-winner for India, Md. Shami put up an excellent show with the ball although he could claim only four wickets in the three matches at an economy – the rate of 4. 87. With his pace, he troubled hard-hitters of white – ball namely, Buttler and Livingstone. The third pacer, Prasidh Krishna needs to get much more exposure on foreign pitches before he could be picked up for important games. In the entire ODI series of three matches, he got only two wickets off 22 overs with a high economy – the rate of 5.77. In absence of Bumrah in the third ODI, Md. Siraj got a chance in the team but could not show his worth after giving away many runs to finish with 2 / 66 in 09 overs, which he bowled. However, he claimed Joe Root and Bairstow, the two dangerous players of the England team which shows his potential. The spin department was in the hands of spanky Yuzvendra Chahal and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Chahal showed his prominence in the team when he destroyed the top-order of England, comprising Bairstow, Root, and Stokes in ODI – 2 and finished with 4 / 47. In the third ODI, he claimed three wickets, although he gave away 60 runs.Thus, the young brigade of team India has lots of potential and must be the reason for team India to give a brave show in the World Cup against mighty Australia, Kiwis, and Britishers.About The Author:

Deepanshu Srivastava, a freelancer in sports – writing and a storyteller is from Pune. He may be reached through: – [email protected]

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