All-round effort helps India defeat England by four-wickets in first ODI

India defeated England by four wickets in the first ODI of the series at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. Ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025, the focus was on a few cricketers, particularly on the seniors following their poor performance in the last two Test series against New Zealand and Australia. However, star India batter Virat Kohli didn’t feature in the match owing to a knee injury, while captain Rohit Sharma flopped yet again.

Meanwhile, batting first, England seemed to be in control, courtesy of openers Phil Salt and Ben Duckett but things changed drastically for them towards the end of the powerplay. Debutant Harshit Rana, who leaked 26 runs in his THIRD over, scripted a sensational comeback to register a three-wicket haul. He dismissed Duckett, Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone. 

The Three Lions nevertheless kept grinding as captain Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell hit a half-century each. Their partnership was vital but none of the cricketers could capitalize as Buttler and Bethell departed for 52 and 51 respectively. Towards the end, Jofra Archer played a cameo of 21 runs but overall, Indian bowlers were well in control of the game. Like Harshit, Ravindra Jadeja clinched a three-wicket haul as England registered 248 runs on



the board.

The focus was on Rohit, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul in the second innings. After Rohit departed scoring only six, the focus immediately shifted towards Gill, who played a terrific knock of 87 runs. He was battling a hamstring-related injury but kept grinding and helped India come closer to picking up a comfortable win. 

Shreyas Iyer, who was dropped from the third ODI against Sri Lanka, returned to the playing XI and played a brilliant knock of 59 runs off 36 deliveries. He released the pressure after India lost two quick wickets of Rohit and debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal and helped Gill take his time to settle. However, the other focused cricketer, KL Rahul, failed to impress, scoring only two runs. If he fails to improve in the coming matches, Rishabh Pant can replace him in the playing XI. On the other hand, all-rounder Axar Patel was promoted in the order and he batted beautifully, scoring 52 runs off 47 deliveries.

Interestingly, this was India’s first ODI win in 449 days. The last time they won a 50-over game was the ODI World Cup 2023 semi-final against New Zealand at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Since then, the team lost the final to Australia in Ahmedabad and all three ODIs against Sri Lanka in 2024.