If not all, most of the focus will certainly be on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli as India face England in the first ODI in Nagpur on Thursday. The three-match series is more of a dress rehearsal for Team India going into the Champions Trophy, where their campaign begins on February 21 against Bangladesh in Dubai.
For skipper Rohit and Kohli, Thursday’s clash will be their first international assignment since the forgettable tour of Australia. For Rohit, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which India lost 1-3, was disastrous. Kohli, though, had managed to get a century at least in the second innings of the opening Test in Perth before having a torrid time outside the off-stump.
Success in the Champions Trophy may well brighten the duo’s prospects in terms of their longevity in international cricket.
Bowling-wise, with Jasprit Bumrah now no longer a part of this series and remaining uncertain for the Champions Trophy too, the kind of attack India go in with will be interesting to see. Will both left-arm spinner all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel be there in the XI?
With leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy being a late addition to the ODI squad after a successful T20I campaign, will he be preferred in the XI over left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav?
Kuldeep has just recovered from a groin injury and played just one Ranji Trophy game. While his variations will be the key, the momentum and rhythm Varun currently has cannot be written off.
"Varun has certainly shown something different. I understand that T20 is a different format, but he has clearly got something different about him... Definitely, he will be in contention if things pan out really well for us and he does what is required," Rohit said.
Going by what Rohit said, it seems KL Rahul will continue donning the keeper's gloves, not Rishabh Pant. "KL has been keeping wickets for us in the ODI format for a number of years now and he has done pretty well...
"But looking at what we have done in the past, having that continuity is also very important for us," he said.
