Return of Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav: A sigh of relief for India ahead of the Champions Trophy | Cricket News

Mohammed Shami and Kuldeep Yadav weren’t even the best Indians bowlers on view in the first ODI, but they showed enough rhythm and signs that they are back and are likely to get better with every game. On a slightly two-faced pitch at Nagpur, the Indian bowling unit showed a glimpse of their 2023 ODI World Cup winning run, where they won 10 games in a row before losing the final against Australia.Returning from their long injury layoffs, Shami and Kuldeep picked up a wicket apiece as an all-round bowling performance restricted England to 248. Considering England were 71without loss in 8 overs, it was an admirable comeback from the Indians. For India, Ravindra Jadeja (3/26) and Harshit Rana (3/53) were the pick of the bowlers.
It started with misunderstanding between the openers Phil Salt and Ben Duckett. Salt was run out looking for a third run and at one point, he and Duckett were basically at the same end. Even here there was an Indian hand; Shreyas Iyer had charged back from square-leg, put in a sliding stop near the boundary that caused Duckett to stay rooted at the non-striker’s end.

CASTLED! ⚡#MohammedShami cleans up #BrydonCarse and England are in deep trouble now! 🤜🏻🤛🏻
Start watching FREE on Disney+ Hotstar ➡️ https://t.co/gzTQA0IDnU#INDvENGOnJioStar 1st ODI 👉 LIVE NOW on Disney+ Hotstar, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 3, Sports 18 1 & Colors Cineplex! pic.twitter.com/kNeRIc6bXW
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 6, 2025
The big question of the day, though, was who would the void left Jasprit Bumrah. When Salt smashed debutant Harshit Rana for 26 runs in an over, it looked like England would easily score 320-330, but the run out opened the doors for the Indians. After Iyer, it was Yashasvi Jaiswal’s stunner that stole the thunder. Jaiswal’s catch of Ben Duckett was as good as Travis Head’s to take out Rohit Sharma in the ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad. Jaiswal backpedalled from midwicket, made a good 15m dash, judged the flight and dip of the ball, and lunged forward at full stretch to grab the ball.
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Having got the whiff, the Indian bowlers tightened the noose even without their spearhead. Shami looked on song from the first ball that curved away a touch. The first over he bowled was a maiden. Apart from movement, he also extracted bounce as the ball whled past the outside edge of Phil Salt, rushing past the bat’s splice.
In his second over, Ben Duckett greeted him with a fine drive to the straight boundary, but Shami pulled his length back to bowl four dots to end the over. Shami could have had his first wicket, that of Duckett, in his third over, but Hardik Pandya, standing at mid-on, misjudged a catch as he was five paces inside the 30-yard line. His full-stretch jump was not enough as the ball touched his fingernails and went for a boundary. A good over had ended with two boundaries but in those first three overs, Shami sent a gentle reminder to the world that he is back.
After troubling youngster Jacob Bethell with a sharp bouncer, Shami had his wicket in the seventh over, a first in ODIs after 15 months, when he castled the stumps of Brydon Carse who was trying to hit it out of the park.
Kuldeep Yadav, England’s tormentor in last year’s Test series, was also making his comeback after three months following a groin injury. There was guile in his bowling; he looked deceptive as he grew into his spell. Initially, Joe Root, with his reverse sweep, tried to durb his length, but with his stock balls that turn into the right-handers, he managed to keep Root and Jos Buttler quiet.

KL Rahul completes the stumping and it’s Kuldeep Yadav with the final wicket for #TeamIndia!
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/lWBc7oPRcd#INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank | @klrahul | @imkuldeep18 pic.twitter.com/px4WNXqJT7
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 6, 2025
Kuldeep did give away a few freebies, like the one in the 22nd over to Jos Buttler. He floated one too wide outside the off stump and Buttler punished him. In the next ball, he dragged his length back and Buttler caressed it past backward square leg.Story continues below this ad
Kuldeep finally had his wicket in his last over, which was also England’s last wicket, as England No. 10 Saqib Mahmood tried to give him a charge and was stranded metres away from the crease.

In Bumrah’s absence, India’s wicket-takers Shami and Kuldeep looked in good rhythm, which must have given the Indian camp a big relief.