The visiting side have an injury concern especially related to their skipper Shubman Gill. The Indian captain had to retire hurt on 80 off 75 balls in the first ODI due to cramps. However, what will be good news for the Indians will be the fact that Gill should be available to lead the side in the crucial second ODI match.
The Indian captain had also hinted that they could try out different combinations in the lead-up to the ICC ODI World Cup 2027 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia next year. It means that the Indian team management could possibly look at resting either Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli and give another opportunity to Ishan Kishan.
The Jharkhand and Sunrisers Hyderabad wicketkeeper had scored his second ODI century against Afghanistan in Lucknow last month but had to dropped from the Playing 11 with Kohli returning to the side in England. “We’ll try different combinations and see which gives us the best depth in both departments. The conditions were close to South Africa – the ball was kicking up, wasn’t easy to score. The wicket then settled nicely,” Gill said after the first ODI earlier this week.
Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli failed with the bat in the 1st ODI with 11 and 5 respectively. “I’ve known Virat for a really long time, but one thing I realised in the recent past is that the reason Virat Kohli is Virat Kohli is because of the belief systems he has. No matter what happens, that belief never changes,” former India assistant coach Abhishek Nayar said on JioStar’s ‘Googlies’ program.
“When Virat was struggling in Australia and had those two ducks in the ODI series, I’d just come out of the Indian team, so we were still in touch. I asked him if everything was okay and whether there was anything he wanted to talk about. He simply said, ‘No, all good. It’s part of the game.’ I then said, ‘I have an observation. Do you want to hear it?’ He smiled and replied, ‘No, I’ll do it my way.’ I laughed. After the next game, I got the answer, ‘I did it my way’,” Nayar added.
With Axar Patel and Washington Sundar both notching up match-winning half-centuries in a century partnership for the fifth wicket, the Indians are unlikely to bring back their specialist spinner Kuldeep Yadav back into the playing 11 for the 2nd ODI.
Harry Brook’s England, on the other hand, are boosted by the addition of pace-bowling all-rounder Brydon Carse to the squad. Jofra Archer or Josh Tongue can be given a break with Saqib Mahmood and Gus Atkinson also added options in the squad.
India vs England 2026 2nd ODI match Predicted 11
India: Rohit Sharma/Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Jasprit Bumrah, Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna
England: Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jofra Archer, Josh Tongue/Brydon Carse, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid