Ind vs Eng: Rishabh Pant batting for the whole day, Rahul also batted with keeping, who will play in the first ODI?

Last Updated:February 04, 2025, 22:57 IST

The ODI series against England will start from 6 February. For coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma, it will be very difficult for Pant and KL Rahul for the playing XI.

Who will play in the first ODI?

New Delhi. Before the opening match of the three -match ODI series against England, the Indian team arrived for the cooperation session on Tuesday, while wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant paid attention to the batting practice while Lokesh Rahul tried more in the wicketkeeping. This series against England will start from 6 February. For coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma, it will be very difficult for the playing XI to choose either of the two.

Pant has the ability to reverse the match at any time with batting, so in this format, Rahul is a more reliable batsman. Both players spent a lot of time in the field to improve their skills. However, Rahul was seen working more hard during this time. He also practiced wicketkeeping along with batting. Pant’s entire focus was on batting. He was practicing playing big shots against spinners.

During the batting practice, Rahul was seen playing field shots that penetrating the fielders instead of a big shot. His wicketkeeping practice felt that he is a strong contender for this place in the team. Rohit and Shubman Gill can start the innings and Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer will come to bat at the third and fourth position respectively. Hardik Pandya plays at number six, so the wicketkeeper-batsman is expected to come at number five.

Rahul had scored 452 runs while performing well in the 2023 ODI World Cup and also did wicketkeeping. However, Pant was not available for selection. He was recovering from a car accident injury. In India’s last ODI series against Sri Lanka, Rahul scored 31 and 0 runs with wicketkeeping in the first two matches. Pant played the third match but could only score six runs. Now it has to be seen who Gambhir gives a chance in the first ODI match.