There was a lot of anticipation around the India ODI squad for the England tour, and finally on Sunday, the cat was out of the bag. Much to the relief of the Indian fans, best pacer in the world, Jasprit Bumrah made a comeback to the side, after a gap pf almost three years, having last played the format in November 2023 — the World Cup final.
Bumrah back, Indian pace attack takes shape
He was not considered for the Afghanistan ODIs as well, to manage his workload after a longish IPL 2026, which could have taken a huge toll om his body. But then Ajit Agarkar & Co. wasted no time in drafting him in, at the very first opportunity. For the record, he has played 89 matches so far and picked up 149 wickets at an average of 23.55.
His inclusion, along with the likes of Prasidh Krishana, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar and Harshit Rana also signals at which way the team is headed for the World Cup 2027. Meanwhile, Prasidh was excellent in the last match against AFG, where he picked up a fifer, so his inclusion was always on the cards.
Arshdeep Singh too had a great time with the ball, picking up 5 wickets in the first two matches of the series; and enters the team once again as the only left-arm pacer. Gurnoor Brar ended with 7 wickets in his three matches, where his average was only 19.42. As for Harshit Rana, he is returning after a long injury break. Barring Bumrah, if these pacers are picked for second series on the trot, that only means, they are on the radar for World Cup selection.
Pacers to miss out
In such an important series, in the context of the future — it came as a surprise that Mohammed Siraj was not picked. In the last 3 years, the Hyderabadi has only played only 9 ODIs, which just tells, that he isn’t in the scheme of things for the ODIs. That despite scaling the no. 1 ranking once; even has 76 wickets to his name in 50 matches.
Prince Yadav was unfortunate to be left out. Marking his debut in the AFG series as well, he wasn’t the best there, taking 3 wickets in 2 matches. He might return in a later series, but for now, it seems the BCCI has marked their men.
India squad for England ODIs: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli*, Shreyas Iyer (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul (WK), Ishan Kishan (WK), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar.
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