For the first time since the heartbreaking 2023 Cricket World Cup against Australia in Ahmedabad, India were handed a major boost as they kickstarted a three-match ODI series against England, with the series opener taking place on Tuesday (July 14) at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham and named a team brimming with experience with Jasprit Bumrah leading the pace attack.
After not being part of the T20I debacle, skipper Shubman Gill, alongside former captains Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, returned alongside veteran wicketkeeper KL Rahul. However, it was Bumrah’s return that came as the big development.
Jasprit Bumrah’s 969-Day Wait
Bumrah is playing an ODI for the first time since 19th November 2023 (969 days ago) and will end a long absence from the format. This gives him a chance to complete 150 wickets in the format after being stuck on 149 since the ill-fated night at the Narendra Modi Stadium, where he took two early wickets before the Pat Cummins-led side took the game away from the hosts, who were unbeaten coming into the big game.
Why Jasprit Bumrah Did Not Play An ODI For Nearly 3 Years?
With Bumrah being an all-format superstar, India have kept him away from one white-ball format. After the 2023 World Cup, India’s focus shifted to T20I cricket for the 2024 T20 World Cup. Later, he was initially named in the squad to play an ODI series against England and the 2025 Champions Trophy, but he suffered a back injury in the fifth Test of his heroic Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) campaign, which made him miss India’s victorious campaign.
Post that, India’s focus once again shifted to T20I and Test cricket ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup, and Bumrah was rested from all ODI assignments. The star pacer did not play any T20I between the 2024 T20 World Cup final in June 2024 and the 2025 Asia Cup in September last year. However, he will not have a long absence from the shortest format this time as he has been named in the Men in Blue’s 2026 Asian Games squad. However, he was rested for the T20I series against Ireland, England, and Zimbabwe
In the period between his ODI appearances for India, Bumrah has been the star of India’s 2024 and 2026 T20 World Cup-winning campaigns. He was the player of the tournament in 2024 with 15 wickets in eight games at an economy of 4.17. In the 2026 edition, he finished as the joint nth-highest wicket-taker with 14 scalps at an economy of 6.21. He won the Player of the Match (POTM) in the final after taking a four-wicket haul vs New Zealand.
This is the first ODI Bumrah is playing under Gill’s leadership as the team begins its preparing for the 2027 World Cup, where the star pacer is expected to lead the Indian bowling once again. Before today’s game, he has 149 wickets in 89 ODIs. He made his debut under MS Dhoni and later played under Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.