India vs England: Rohit Sharma fails again, but Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel steer India home | Cricket News

Rohit Sharma failed, but the performance of Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, and Axar Patel stood out as India proved too strong for England to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series in Nagpur. The batting effort came on the back of a splendid bowling performance that restricted England to 248 after they were 71 for 0 in 8 overs at one stage.It was an all-round performance from India across all three departments. India were without Virat Kohli, who missed the game due to a knee injury he suffered on the eve of the match, and captain Rohit fell for two runs. But fifties from Shubman Gill (87), Shreyas Iyer (59), and Axar Patel (52) eased them past the target in 38.4 overs.
Shubman returns to form
Gill recently admitted to losing concentration in the red-ball format. Most of his dismissals in Australia were a sort of “brain fade.” But in the ODI format, where he was India’s best batter leading up to the 2023 ODI World Cup before dengue forced him to miss a couple of matches, he looked at ease. There was no lapse of concentration as he almost took India home.
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Under the lights, India were in a spot of bother after they lost debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma quickly. Shubman, who was batting at No. 3 in the absence of Virat Kohli, first forged a 94-run stand with Shreyas Iyer and then took India closer to the total with a crucial 108-run stand with Axar Patel.
Gill’s innings on Thursday was a two-part knock. In the first half, he was required to play the second fiddle to Shreyas Iyer, who was at his marauding best before he took charge. Gill picked Archer’s slower delivery and whacked it through square leg. In the same over, Jofra cranked up 145 kph, and Shubman’s bread-and-butter flat-batted pull shot was out. Later in the 27th over, there was another brace of fours off Archer, and the second one in particular captured his poise and skill. He had to wait for the ball on the slightly two-paced pitch and unfurled a lovely late steer past backward point.
The only false shot Shubman played cost him his wicket. On 87, and in search for some quick runs to finish the innings, he backed away outside leg but was cramped for room and mimed his short-arm jab pull. The ball hit his bat twice, and lobbed towards mid-on where Jos Buttler took a good catch.
Iyer means business
A couple of weeks ago at the Indian Express’ Idea Exchange, Shreyas Iyer mentioned that he had unfinished business with ODI cricket. On Thursday in Nagpur, he walked the talk. The right-handed batter blasted 59 runs off 36 balls.Story continues below this ad
Shreyas Iyer walked into a semi-crisis as India were 19 for 2. Jofra Archer was bowling close to 150 kph, and it looked like England might give India a scare. They had a short-leg in place to test him on the short ball in the 7th over. Off his 7th ball, he pulled a back-of-length delivery from Archer over midwicket boundary. Archer bent his back for the next ball and got it to climb higher but gave some width outside off and Iyer’s slash had the ball fly over third man. From that point on, he kept whacking the ball all around the park.
There was a nonchalance in the way he batted in this inning. He cut, he pulled, he swivelled, he drove, he swept, he reverse swept, he showed his deft touch, ran hard between the wickets, and with this knock settled the debate about his importance in India’s ODI side.
The best of the onslaught was saved for Brydon Carse. He hit three boundaries off the England pacer in the 10th over of India’s innings. The third ball was placed past backward point, then he played a lovely square drive and ended the over with an exquisite cover drive.
There was a reverse slap against Adil Rashid and a paddle sweep off Jacob Bethell, which helped him bring up his fifty in 31 balls. His knock ended while he tried to paddle Bethell again and was pinned. But the Indian management will consider another box ticked with Iyer getting back into his groove.Story continues below this ad
Axar was promoted ahead of Rahul and as ever, he played the situation perfectly, using his long reach to belt the ball and also rotated the strike adroitly.
Bazball fizzles again
England were off to a pulsating start, reaching 75 without loss, and looked set to post a formidable total.
India bowled and fielded well, and captain Rohit Sharma’s captaincy was also top-notch, but like in the T20Is, England proved to be their own worst enemies.
On the eve of the match, England captain Jos Buttler, who top-scored with a fine 52, had rued his side’s inability to execute their plans according to the match situation. He had said, “You want to be aggressive, you want to be conservative, you want to be measured, you’ve still got to go out there and execute it and play it well.”Story continues below this ad
England were certainly aggressive, and with Buttler and youngster Jacob Bethell (51), they were conservative as well, but they were far from being measured.
The wickets of Salt and Duckett were sheer brilliance from Shreyas Iyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal, but it was reckless from both openers. Iyer ran back from point to make a sliding stop near the boundary and that dive made Duckett freeze at non-striker’s end and Salt had to abort his plan for the third run and try getting back but was too late. Duckett was caught a tumbling Jaiswal running back from midwicket and lunging. Root was pinned Jadeja with a zipping armer, and Brook was hurried Rana’s bouncer.
England captain Jos Buttler couldn’t believe what he had done to Axar Patel’s half-tracker. The ball, which deserved to be put in the stands, was top-edged Buttler to short fine leg, where Hardik Pandya took an easy catch.
Livingstone ducked under a Rana bouncer and charged down a couple of balls later but could only edge the wild swing off the bouncer to the wicketkeeper. Brydon Carse, who had rescued England multiple times in the T20Is, tried to slug Shami out of the park but had his stumps rattled.
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Brendon McCullum’s Bazballers have found it tough in India. They were hammered 4-1 in the Test series last year. His era in white-ball cricket started with another 4-1 loss in the T20I series, and his pursuit of the Champions Trophy has also started on a low note.