It took the return of Jasprit Bumrah to hand India their first win of the tour of the United Kingdom. The star Indian fast bowler, playing his first 50-over game since the 2023 ODI World Cup final, completely changed the mood of the tour, with India bagging a 6-wicket win in the first ODI of the series in Birmingham.
Some fiery fast bowling, led by Jasprit Bumrah, saw India trigger a mini-collapse in the English batting order. The hosts recovered and put 258 runs on the board, but that simply was not enough to stop the revamped Indian team, which had the services of Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, among others.
It was a huge sigh of relief for coach Gautam Gambhir, who was left clueless during India’s 0-6 collapse against Ireland and England in the T20I series. Bumrah set the tone with a sensational opening spell after India opted to bowl first in Birmingham.
England vs India, 1st ODI: Updates
England opened their innings with two aggressive batters, the regular Ben Duckett and the experimental Jacob Bethell. Both struggled against Bumrah’s swing in the initial overs on Tuesday, with umpteen plays and misses in the first 10 overs.
Bumrah was not able to find a breakthrough in the first 10 overs, but had rattled the English openers with the quality of fast bowling on display. The cracks appeared just outside the powerplay, when Shubman Gill brought on fast bowler Gurnoor Brar in the 13th over of the game.
Brar had been taken to the cleaners by Bethell and Duckett, who had scored 26 of England’s first 51 runs off him in his opening spell.
With the field spread out, Shubman trusted his gut and brought back his childhood friend, hoping for a breakthrough. The 6ft 5in fast bowler struck immediately, dismissing both openers with short balls.
Bethell was the first to go. Against a rising delivery, he managed to find Washington Sundar at deep mid-wicket. Two balls later, Duckett succumbed, courtesy of a sensational catch from Jasprit Bumrah at the edge of the third-man rope.
In a spell of sensational captaincy, Shubman brought Bumrah back immediately after the breakthrough and, once again, the impact was immediate. England captain Harry Brook, who had terrorised the Indian bowling unit in the T20I series, was unable to figure out Bumrah’s angles and ended up getting caught in the slips, handing India three quick wickets.
England, rattled by the three quick wickets, absolutely collapsed. Prasidh Krishna struck twice in the 17th over, sending back Jos Buttler and Sam Curran, sealing the fate of the English team.
The hosts, unbeaten over the last week, had given up by the 20th over of the first ODI.
After being 51/0 in 10 overs, England had collapsed to 93/5 by the 20th over.
AXAR WRAPS UP THE INNINGS AFTER FIGHTBACK
Just as India looked set to clean up England early, veteran Joe Root put together a heroic stand with spinner Liam Dawson for the seventh wicket. Root and Dawson added 121 runs, the highest seventh-wicket partnership for England against India.
The stand helped England not only stabilise their innings but also hit back at India in the death overs. India looked frustrated and clueless about how to dismiss the duo, but remained patient and switched on for a chance to arrive.
The moment arrived in the 44th over of the game. Dawson swung hard at Axar Patel off the final ball of the over, only to miscue the shot and end up getting caught at deep backward square leg. Rohit Sharma, a veteran of 285 ODIs, did not make a mistake when the ball came his way.
Dawson’s wicket triggered another collapse for England, who looked for quick runs and ended up getting bowled out for 258 in the 48th over of the match.
Axar Patel, who triggered the collapse with Dawson’s wicket, wrapped up the innings with three more wickets to his name.
It was an important outing with the ball, considering he had been picked apart in his previous game, the final T20I of the series.
SHUBMAN GILL STARS IN INDIA’S CHASE
Could it ever be a chase without India making it difficult? Probably not.
Batting on a pitch with slight variable bounce, England struck with the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. The thousands of people who came to see two of the greatest batters of this generation, perhaps for the final time at this ground, left disappointed.
Rohit could not really get going against the bounce on the pitch, eventually falling to Sam Curran in the eighth over. Frustrated after defending several deliveries, Rohit tried to take on England’s slowest pacer, but handed the ball straight to Harry Brook at mid-off.
England captain Brook sensed an opportunity and brought back his best bowler, Jofra Archer, in the next over, just like Shubman had done with Bumrah earlier in the innings.
The result was once again immediate. Archer set Kohli up with a short ball before slipping in a fuller delivery straight away. The ball struck Kohli on the pads and ended his innings, which lasted just six balls.
Batting on a pitch that had eased in terms of swing but still offered a little variable bounce, Shubman and his vice-captain, Shreyas Iyer, added 101 runs.
The partnership left England begging for a wicket, which simply was not going to come.
The rebuilding effort involved plenty of running between the wickets from both batters, with Shreyas Iyer relying heavily on strike rotation as his primary scoring option.
Shubman was up for it, but it took a toll on his body. England got a rare sniff in the 26th over when Shubman limped off the field, retiring hurt due to cramps.
Shubman’s departure sparked a brief collapse for India, with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul losing their wickets in the next 10 balls.
RESILIENT AXAR PATEL TAKES INDIA THROUGH
Things could have gone really badly for India after the fall of two senior men. But Axar Patel calmly took over the scene and guided India to a commanding victory in the 1st ODI of the series.
After a horror T20I series, Axar scored 57* off 52 balls, first soaking in the pressure and then hitting a barrage of boundaries at the end, which took India over the target in the 46th over of the match.
India arrived in Birmingham carrying the baggage of a winless tour and a dressing room low on confidence. They left with something far more valuable than two points. Bumrah reminded everyone why he remains the world’s best fast bowler, Shubman anchored another successful chase with the maturity of a captain growing into the role, and Axar Patel produced the calm finishing touch.
One win does not erase a miserable tour of the United Kingdom or answer every question that emerged over the past month. But after weeks of tactical confusion, constant chopping and changing, injuries, and six successive defeats, Birmingham finally gave India something they had been desperately searching for: belief that this team could find its identity once again.
– Ends
