England vs India 2018: India-England Combined ODI XI
The upcoming ODI series between England and India will feature some of the best limited-overs cricketers to ever play for their respective countries. These two sides have the 2 highest ODI win-loss ratios since the end of the World Cup in 2015, and are also ranked 1st and 2nd. It does not get better than this.
Some of these players have been around for a while and have established themselves as excellent ODI players whilst the recent mammoth performances of newcomers have led to positive speculation regarding their futures.
Both squads are extremely strong in the batting and bowling departments, but here is my pick for the best XI:
#1: Jason Roy
Jason Roy has a reputation of being a destructive opening batsman and he has lived up to that hype as well. His most recent innings, where he went after the Indian attack, scoring 67 off only 31 deliveries was a testament to that ability.
His habit of taking the aerial route when playing his trademark aggressive brand of cricket is suited to batting in the powerplay where more fielders are in the circle. He provides this XI an explosive start and he will be one to watch in the ODI series.
#2: Rohit Sharma
Once scratchy, now firing. With the “Hitman”, it has been hit or miss so far in this tour of England and Ireland. After an IPL season that was not up to the high standards we are accustomed to from Rohit Sharma, he scored a rapid 97 against Ireland but then failed to get a good score in the next 3 innings.
Just when it looked like he might have to make way for someone else in the playing XI, Rohit came back with a 100 in a chase of 199 against England in the 3rd T20I and with how sweetly he was striking the ball in that innings, you would’ve never guessed that he was out of form leading up to the match.