The upcoming three ODIs in India are England’s last rehearsal ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan.
After a humbling experience in the T20Is, England will next face India in a three-match ODI series. Ahead of the first match in Nagpur on February 6, Three Lions coach Brendon McCullum has confirmed using an extra pace option for the contest.
England speedster Seamer Saqib Mahmood got just one chance in the T20I leg, during the fourth match. Despite grabbing three crucial wickets of Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma, and India skipper Suryakumar Yadav, Saqib was benched for the dead rubber at Wankhede.
The upcoming ODIs are England’s last rehearsal ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan and McCullum has assured Saqib a spot in the playing XI for the Nagpur ODI.
The England coach said, “Saqi was outstanding in the fourth T20 and he’ll play in the first ODI as well. We wanted Woody to charge in on this Mumbai surface and try to double down on our mantra and our philosophy.”
England’s trouble against the spin bowlers has grabbed the headlines again during the T20Is. What looked like an intense competition till the Pune outing, the five-match series ended with the scoreline line of 4-1 favouring India.
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Harry Brook cited Indian spinners as their primary challenge throughout the series.
The middle-order batter had said after the T20I leg, “I think our guys are really good players of spin. We’ve probably not been at our best against them but credit goes to Chakaravarthy and (Ravi) Bishnoi as well. I know the scoreline reads 4-1 and it’s disappointing to lose the series but Rome wasn’t built in a day. I think we’ve seen a pretty clear gameplan of how we want to play the game.”
Varun Chakaravarthy took charge of the spin department throughout the series. Varun grabbed the Man of the Series trophy, rattling the English with 14 wickets at an average of 9.85.
Leaving the forgettable T20Is behind, Brendon McCullum looks forward to a relentless approach in the ODIs.
The England head coach mentioned, “At times, we’ve been a touch tentative. We want to keep trying to apply pressure. Particularly when they’ve got such a good batting lineup, you don’t really have a time where you can just take time out of the game. Four or five years ago in T20 cricket it was like that, and I think we’ve seen it evolve so quickly that there is no dead time now.”
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