Veterans Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will not only have to perform for themselves but also play a key role in lifting the sagging Indian spirits against an upbeat England when the two sides clash in a three-match ODI series, starting in Birmingham on Tuesday.
Kohli and Rohit, along with Jasprit Bumrah, are back in the mix to play the format in which bilaterals have been losing both context and sheen amid growing popularity of T20 cricket. The 39-year-old Rohit and the soon-to-be 38 Kohli still have the fire in their bellies and the runs to show for their efforts as they aim for a ODI World Cup swansong.
Facing Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue on tracks, which are spicier compared to sub-continental featherbeds, is a different challenge. But the duo has smashed English bowlers enough over the years to know what is required of them.
But their presence for this series certainly holds more significance after the Indian team, under a new T20 skipper Shreyas Iyer, lost all but one of its seven T20I matches in the ongoing tour. The only match they didn't lose was a game that got abandoned.
The 0-2 defeat versus Ireland and 0-4 thrashing handed by England has opened a Pandora's Box with BCCI calling for a performance review. In this backdrop, a team management, which hasn't exactly made things easier for the two modern day legends, will be compelled to welcome them with open arms in order to stem the rot.
An ODI series win can hardly gloss over the inadequacies of T20 squad's disastrous show but it would certainly work as a confidence-booster.
The return of skipper Shubman Gill, another prolific 50-over batter and the experienced K L Rahul, makes it a fabulous quartet of top-order batters, who can turn any game on its head. Add Shreyas Iyer to the mix, and there should be little concern about the batting unit.
However, it is the bowling unit that needs to do some serious strategic thinking even as Bumrah, after a well-earned rest, makes a comeback. India's new fast bowling hope Gurnoor Brar, after an impressive start against Afghanistan at home, will face a completely different challenge with his lengths on English tracks.
Arshdeep Singh will certainly add dimension as the left-arm seamer in the pack while Shivam Dube, a forced choice due to the absence of an injured Hardik Pandya and Nitish Kumar Reddy, will be the fourth seamer at Edgbaston.
Both Washington Sundar and Axar Patel were massive disappointments during the T20I series in both batting and bowling. But they are unlikely to bear any consequences as they outscore the team's best spinner, Kuldeep Yadav, on perception of "better willow wielding" abilities. Kuldeep, by a country mile, is a better spinner and the only one among the three with an ability to turn the ball even when there is nothing on offer from the surface.
One advantage that India will have against England is that the hosts haven't played any 50-over cricket since January 27 when they were on an away tour of Sri Lanka. Having played a lot of T20 cricket and a few Tests (against New Zealand), England will also need to get back into the groove for the format even though the high of a one-sided T20 series will keep them in perfect mental frame.
The inclusion of Joe Root in the batting ranks will only add more depth to English batting with Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell providing the explosive firepower alongside Jos Buttler. Having humiliated the Indian bowlers in Southampton in the final T20I, Buttler and Brook will again like to send them on a leather-hunt with more overs at their disposal.
