IND vs ENG Live Score, 2nd ODI: All eyes on Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma as India aim to seal series

IND vs ENG Live Score, 2nd ODI: India go to Cardiff 1-0 up with the series in sight, and the manner of the Edgbaston win said plenty about the depth of this squad. Chasing 259, India lost Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli inside the first 9 overs. Then Shubman Gill retired hurt with a cramp after a fighting fifty. It should have been the kind of collapse that hands England the game. Instead, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar walked in and finished the chase with an unbroken century stand, both men bringing up half-centuries of their own to seal a six-wicket win that England will not have seen coming.

That result glosses over something India need to sort out at Cardiff. Rohit made just 11 before edging behind, and Kohli lasted six balls before Jofra Archer trapped him lbw for 5. Two of India’s most celebrated ODI batters, back together in the same XI after nearly three years, and neither got going. Nobody in India is panicking after a win, but a second failure at Sophia Gardens would start a different conversation, one about rust, about the gap between IPL form and international bowling, and about how long India can keep winning games despite their two biggest names rather than because of them.

India vs England 2nd ODI match preview

The story of this series so far is that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have not delivered. And as long as the two continue to play, the axe will always be there on their heads, especially on Rohit. In a way, selectors would want Rohit to fail so that they can get Yashasvi Jaiswal in. And to prevent that, Rohit needs to shut them all down by scoring a ton of runs. Not that he has not been scoring. He has two centuries and four fifties since 2025. But in 2026, that scoring form has dipped to a 30.71 average and a strike rate of 95.55 in 2026. He has just one 50+ score this year. That’s exactly what could see him fall. His ultra-defensive approach at the start has not helped him.

As for Virat Kohli, he can relax for now. He has averaged 61.25 in 2026 in four innings, and the failure in Birmingham is not a big concern. But if his stay on the crease continues to be brief, questions will arise once again. In short, both need to score runs and keep scoring them until the 2027 World Cup. A win will also help Shubman Gill claim his ODI series win as captain overseas.

As for England, they have played ODIs like an eighth-ranked team in the last two years. Since the World Cup 2023, England have lost 20 of 30 ODIs, and the shake-up with Harry Brook and Brendon McCullum coming in has not changed the results. England need to get back to winning form, but their batters’ approach of playing T20 cricket in ODIs has scripted their downfall more often than not. Joe Root has been an exception, as he showed in Birmingham with an unbeaten 76. But the others need to drop the T20 act and play the format as they should.

Predicted IND vs ENG 2nd ODI Playing XIs

Predicted India Playing XI

Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar/Prince Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah 

Predicted England Playing XI

Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson, Josh Tongue, Adil Rashid

Sophia Gardens, Cardiff pitch report

Sophia Gardens tends to produce a fair contest between bat and ball, with fast bowlers finding some swing and seam in the first ten overs before the pitch settles down. Spin becomes a bigger factor as the match wears on and the surface slows, so both Kuldeep Yadav and England’s Adil Rashid could have a say in the middle overs.

The numbers strongly favour chasing here. Across 33 completed men’s ODIs at this ground, teams batting second have won 21 to the 8 wins for sides batting first, a chase success rate of nearly 64 per cent. The average first-innings score is 223, with teams generally targeting 270 to 280 to feel secure, while the average second-innings score sits lower at 209, since chasing sides have often paced things out carefully rather than needing to be spectacular. The pitch has produced huge scores before too, including England’s 386 against Bangladesh in the 2019 World Cup and a 312-run chase against West Indies last year.

Given how heavily conditions and history favour the team bowling first, the toss at Cardiff could matter more than at most venues on this tour.

England vs India live streaming

The England vs India 2nd ODI is live in India on Sony Sports Network, with streaming on SonyLIV and JioHotstar. Toss is scheduled for 5:00 PM IST, with the first ball at 5:30 PM IST (11:00 AM local time in Cardiff).