Tough tour continues as England lose ODI opener in India

India, though, can afford to be choosy. On a day when Virat Kohli was ruled out with a right knee injury, much to the disappointment of a near 50,000 crowd, the hosts still took this opening game comfortably, overhauling England’s 248 to win by four wickets with 10.2 overs remaining.

For England, it was the latest setback on a chastening tour, a continuation of the challenging start to Brendon McCullum’s reign as multi-format head coach.

There is no tougher assignment than India away, with Abhishek by no means the only absentee who might have been selected. It would be no exaggeration to say that India could field a second, perhaps even a third team that would give all-comers a run for their money. Their resources – cricketing and financial – are beyond compare.

England started this game well enough. They were 75-0 inside the first nine overs after choosing to bat, the day hot and the outfield fast.

Phil Salt, having initially looked all at sea against Mohammed Shami – sea salt, you might say – grew into his work, clubbing 26 from a Harshit Rana over that contained three sixes and two fours. He had advanced menacingly to 43 from 26 balls when he was calamitously run-out, the dawdling Ben Duckett failing to respond to a call for a third run to deep backward-point, Salt halfway down the track as Duckett stood motionless, like a block of ice.

In the next over, Duckett top-edged a pull and was quite magnificently caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal, running back at cover and diving full stretch, as he and fellow ODI debutant Harshit combined on the scorecard.

When Harry Brook gloved Harshit down the leg-side three balls later, his seventh low score in his last eight international innings in all formats following a blistering start to the New Zealand Test tour, England had lost 3-2 in eight balls to slip to 77-3.

Joe Root, playing his first ODI since November 2023, and fresh from his stint in the SA20, had licence to rebuild with Jos Buttler, the captain, but was fourth out at 111 when he played back to Ravindra Jadeja, the left-arm spinner, and was leg-before, a decision upheld after Root reviewed.

Buttler and Jacob Bethell combined in a fifth-wicket stand of 59 inside 15 overs, Buttler reaching his second fifty of the tour from 58 deliveries.

It was pretty much fifty and out, though, Buttler top-edging a pull to short fine-leg, as it would be later for Bethell, who played well to reach his own half-century from 62 deliveries, which included a pulled six off Hardik Pandya.

In between the Buttler and Bethell dismissals, Liam Livingstone swung wildly at Harshit on the charge and was caught behind, while Brydon Carse, heaving to leg, was bowled by Shami.

India’s spinners applied the brakes nicely, chief among them Jadeja, who had Bethell lbw playing to leg before bowling Adil Rashid to finish with 3-26.

Jofra Archer swung meatily for 21 from 18, the innings ending with 14 balls unused when Saqib Mahmood was flummoxed by a Kuldeep Yadav wrong ‘un and stumped.

India’s chase started shakily in the face of some good bowling from Archer especially.

Having initially had little luck against Jaiswal, he finally got one to take the outside edge, Salt doing the rest.

When Rohit Sharma spooned Mahmood to mid-on, the ball perhaps getting stuck a little in the surface, the hosts were 19-2 and the crowd stunned into silence, as though a UFO had landed on the outfield.

But the thing with India is that there is invariably someone else just as good, if not better, to stride to the centre.

Enter Shreyas Iyer, who played beautifully as he and Shubman Gill added 94 from 64 balls.

Iyer took the lead, clubbing 59 from 36 with nine fours and two sixes until a review upheld an lbw appeal by Bethell.

Axar Patel thumped 52 from 47 before Rashid bowled him through the gate, ending a stand of 108 with Gill from 107 balls, the Yorkshireman claiming another when KL Rahul popped back a return.

But Gill anchored with 87 from 96, falling to a catch at mid-wicket when the game was as good as over, as India’s staggering strength came through in the end, England’s day encapsulated when the winning runs went through Salt’s gloves as Jadeja was dropped off Mahmood.