England’s misery continued on their tour to India as after losing the Test series 0-4, their fate remained the same in the first ODI that they played in Pune. Despite posting their highest total on Indian soil, they ended up on the losing side. Apart from David Willey, no England bowler had any answers when Virat Kohli and Kedar Jhadav counter attacked their bowlers. In the end India chased down the 351 target with 3 wickets and 11 balls remaining.
Hits
· Joe Root – He is rightly named a modern great alongside Virat Kohli, Kane Willamson and Australia’s captain Steve Smith. He is a run machine for team England. He carried out the same way where he left in the year 2016. His 78 ensured that England could post a big total at the end of their 50 overs.
· Ben Stokes – He was the player to watch out for. His blazing 62 runs made the difference in the end. If he would have been dismissed early, then England couldn’t have posted such a huge total
· Jason Roy – The opener gave a decent start to England. His partnership with Joe Root ensured that their team was in the game. He played good knock for his 73 from 61 balls.
Flops
Read more:Kohli, Jadhav, Pandya, Dhawan, Dhoni: Heroes and zeroes from India vs England 1st ODI
· Eoin Morgan – The captain didn’t impress. He batted good for his 28 runs but should have converted that into a big score. His captaincy was also not upto the mark as he failed to use more overs from David Willey. The fast bowler had four overs left. The same goes with his decision not to complete the 10 overs of Chris Woakes. Woakes still had two overs left. He used part time bowler like Joe Root who ended up giving 22 runs from his three overs.
· The England spinners –Adil Rashid and Moen Ali both carried their poor test forms into the One Day format. They went for plenty. They failed to do what the Indian part time spinners Yuvraj Singh and Kedar Jhadav did. In the end it cost them the match. Liam Dawson should get a chance in place of Ali or Rashid. Dawson is a handy all rounder and good spin bowling option for the visitors. He played a good hand for England in the last and final test at Chennai.