India show their One Day International class with win against England in Nagpur as Shubman Gill stars
Published 06/02/2025 at 16:39 GMT
India eased to a four-wicket win over England in the opening game of the One Day International series in Nagpur, with Shubman Gill (87) and Ravindra Jadeja (3-26) playing starring roles as the home side chased down 249 to take a lead in the three-match series. This series represents crucial preparation for both teams ahead of the Champions Trophy in February.
‘Again it’s short, again it’s pulled away, again it’s Gill!’ - Gill punishes England bowling
Video credit: TNT Sports
India survived a late scare to wrap up a dominant victory in the opening match of the One Day International series against England, as Shubman Gill top-scored with a supreme 87.
England skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat first, and it looked to have been an excellent decision when Phil Salt (43) and Ben Duckett (32) got them off to a rapid start in the first powerplay.
But wickets fell all-too-frequently for England after a mix-up between the openers saw Salt run out, with Duckett and Harry Brook joining him back in the hutch as three wickets fell in the space of just eight balls.
Buttler (52) and Jacob Bethell (51) led the rebuild through the middle overs, but some disappointing dismissals - most notably from Liam Livingstone and Brydon Carse - meant that the kick on never came.
England were bowled out for a below-par 248 in 47.4 overs, boosted by some late blows from Jofra Archer (21* from 18), but it was India's bowlers who controlled the first innings. Ravindra Jadeja returned the pick of the figures, bagging 3-26 from nine overs, while Harshit Rana on his ODI debut took 3-53 from seven.
Some dangerous new-ball bowling from Archer and Saqib Mahmood briefly gave England hope, with the former working over Yashasvi Jaiswal before Mahmood had India skipper Rohit Sharma out cheaply.
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'He deserves it!' - Archer finds Jaiswal's edge and gets early breakthrough for England
Video credit: TNT Sports
But India’s classy middle order looked to be making relatively easy work of the chase, as Shreyas Iyer attacked with a quickfire 36-ball 59 before Gill and Axar Patel (52) registered their own half-centuries.
Three late wickets, including a beauty from Adil Rashid, added the slightest sense of jeopardy to India’s chase.
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‘Beautiful bit of bowling!’ – Rashid castles Axar with a jaffa
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But Hardik Pandya and Jadeja completed the job, wrapping up the win with four wickets and 11.2 overs to spare.
Player of the Match – Shubman Gill (India)
India were without Virat Kohli in this game due to a knee injury, meaning that Gill slipped down to No. 3 from his usual role at the top of the order in ODIs. But the change of position did little to impact the flow of a player who is arguably the form batter in the world in the 50-over game.
Gill came into this series ranked three in the ICC rankings, but will likely leapfrog his captain Rohit into second spot in the next update after he racked up yet more 50-over runs.
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‘Again it’s short, again it’s pulled away, again it’s Gill!’ - Gill punishes England bowling
Video credit: TNT Sports
His controlled knock of 87 from 96 balls featured 14 boundaries and boosted his career ODI average up to a superb 58.90 from 48 innings.
India are blessed with bucket-loads of quality with the bat, to such an extent that star youngster Jaiswal’s appearance was remarkably his debut in ODIs. But one thing is certain – Gill is a lock in the team for the Champions Trophy and a crucial scalp for any team hoping to overcome the world’s top-ranked side.
Talking Point - England stutter with the bat once again
Having won the toss and opted to bat first on a decent track in hot conditions in Nagpur, England captain Buttler would have been hoping for a score of 300+ to give his bowling attack something to work with.
And the first part of the blueprint went well as openers Salt and Duckett peppered the boundary in the first nine overs to build a rapid 75-run stand.
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'Best shot we've seen so far!' - Salt unloads for mammoth 26-run over
Video credit: TNT Sports
But England’s ability to rebuild after setbacks was a story throughout the T20 series, and they continued that concerning trend in this first ODI, losing three quick wickets to force a scramble of a rebuild, with the departure of Joe Root for 19 leaving the middle order in an even bigger hole.
The consolidating knocks from Buttler and Bethell were encouraging, not least for their sensible nature when the game called for cool heads, but not everyone displayed such straight thinking, with Livingstone the prime culprit, coming in as the last front-line batter and playing a high-risk swipe at a critical point of the innings to fall cheaply.
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'Can you put aside your ego' - Prior questions Livingstone's shot selection compared to Bethell
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England opted for an additional batting all-rounder in this game to lengthen their batting options, which looked like a good balance, but the top seven would have been frustrated not to have kicked on to give their bowlers something substantial to defend.
WATCH THIS SERIES LIVE ON TNT SPORTS
You can watch and live stream every ball of the India v England ODI series in the UK on TNT Sports and discovery+.
WHEN ARE THE INDIA V ENGLAND ODI MATCHES?
This is a three-match series ahead of the Champions Trophy, with the remaining fixtures coming up over the course of the next week:
- 2nd ODI: Cuttack - Sunday, February 9 at 08:00
- 3rd ODI: Ahmedabad - Wednesday, February 12 at 08:00
WHO IS IN THE ENGLAND SQUAD?
Just a reminder that these are the options available to the England selectors for the final two matches of this series, although Jamie Smith is unlikely to feature until the final game of the tour.
Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Rehan Ahmed.
WHO IS IN THE INDIA SQUAD?
India’s strength in depth is extraordinary and this is the full squad for the series, with Jasprit Bumrah unlikely to feature due to a back injury but still potentially in contention to be fit in time for the Champions Trophy later in the month.
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy.
Watch and stream top cricket action live on TNT Sports and discovery+
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