England vs India 2018: Five players to watch out for in the ODI series
After an eventful Twenty20 International series between England and India, the action now moves to the One-Day Internationals between the two sides starting from Thursday (July 12).
The T20Is saw both sides showing their class and skill to outsmart the other before India eventually came out triumph to take the series 2-1. It was another case of India managing to stage a comeback after being pushed back.
India will go into the series knowing that England are in red-hot form in the ODIs, having just whitewashed Australia 5-0 last month. What the hosts will acknowledge though is that the opposition is a lot tougher than a side which was missing many of its regular starters.
While India didn't miss the services of Jasprit Bumrah in the shortest format of the game, it remains to be seen if they find an able backup for him. With pitches suiting run-scoring, the contest is more likely to be between the batsmen from the two sides.
Before the series begins, let's have a look at the players to watch out for:
#1 Rohit Sharma
It was here in England, back in 2013 that Rohit Sharma's cricket career took a giant leap during the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. The move to open the innings with him was a masterstroke as the talented opening batsman broke records for a living. His growth in the 50-overs format has been nothing short of phenomenal.
His numbers though took a beating after a poor series against South Africa. He scored only 170 runs in the series with 115 coming in one of the ODIs. With competition heating up for batting in the top three of the Indian batting line-up, Rohit Sharma will know that he can't afford to take anything for granted and ensure he maintains his supremacy at the top of the order.
There were talks about Rohit batting in the middle order which would allow Lokesh Rahul to open the innings but the century against England albeit in T20I, opening the batting must have surely put that idea to rest.