England Win Toss, Choose to Bat First Against India at Edgbaston

Harry Brook won the toss at Edgbaston on Tuesday and chose to bat first against India in the opening match of the three-match Metro Bank ODI series a contest both sides have framed as direct preparation for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

World Cup Prep, Contrasting Form

Both squads have 15 months before the tournament begins. England arrive carrying momentum from the T20I leg of the tour they completed a 4–0 T20I series win over India the first fixture was washed out by rain to claim the top position in the T20I rankings. India also lost their two T20Is against Ireland before the England leg, putting them on a seven-game winless run across formats.

T20 and ODI form do not transfer automatically. England have not played a 50-over international since their Sri Lanka tour concluded on 27 January 2026, and the six-month gap counts at a ground like Edgbaston, where conditions offer genuine seam movement in the first 10 overs before flattening into a batter-friendly surface. England have won seven consecutive ODIs at this venue since 2015, per ESPNcricinfo's match preview a record that gives Brook's side a concrete advantage regardless of recent T20 momentum.

India have won each of their last five ODIs against England.

The Playing XIs

England named a side built around experience in the middle order and pace across the top of the bowling attack.

England XI: Jacob Bethell, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (C), Jos Buttler (WK), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson, Josh Tongue, Adil Rashid.

The ECB-confirmed selection includes Jos Buttler, who is making his 200th ODI appearance for England a milestone that spans three World Cup cycles since his debut against Pakistan in Dubai on 21 February 2012. He has accumulated 5,515 ODI runs across those 199 caps. Jacob Bethell opens at the top alongside Ben Duckett Duckett's fifth different ODI opening partner since the start of 2025. Josh Tongue, who impressed in the T20I series, earns his first ODI cap.

India XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (C), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul (WK), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Gurnoor Brar, Prasidh Krishna.

The India lineup, confirmed by multiple outlets, brings back three players who sat out the T20I series: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah's appearance is particularly notable in statistical terms: this is his first ODI since the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad, a gap of 968 days and 26 India ODIs in which he played no part, per ESPNcricinfo. The BCCI confirmed that Prince Yadav replaced the injured Harshit Rana in India's squad after Rana suffered a Grade 1 right hamstring injury at Trent Bridge during the third T20I.

Three Players Returning for India

Rohit Sharma's ODI record in England is among the strongest by any visiting batter. ESPNcricinfo's match preview places his average in England at 64.9 across 27 ODIs, with seven centuries more than any other visiting batter at English grounds while his Edgbaston average is 89.4. He arrives after scoring 48 and 79 in his final two innings of India's Afghanistan ODI series.

Kohli returns from a hamstring injury sustained in the IPL 2026 final on 31 May. His last appearance for India before 14 July came in the ODI series against New Zealand in January. On English soil overall, he has 1,349 runs in 33 innings at an average of 51.88, with one century and 12 fifties a tally that spans bilateral series and ICC tournaments played in the country. Against England on English soil specifically, he has 581 runs in 16 ODIs at an average of 38.73, meaning he needs 68 runs to become India's leading ODI run-scorer against England in England, going past Rahul Dravid's mark of 648. Yahoo Sports lists six fifty-plus scores in his previous seven ODI innings at an average of 123.20. In three ODIs in 2026 before the injury, he scored 240 runs at an average of 80.

England's key statistic in the 50-over format belongs to Joe Root: 1,055 ODI runs since the start of 2024 at an average of 65.93, the highest total for England across that period.

India's selectors' decision to include Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in India's T20I squad earlier in the tour generated significant discussion, but the 15-year-old was not selected for either of the T20Is for which he was eligible. The ODI squad marks a different phase of the tour, with Gill's senior group taking over from the younger T20 setup.

Form, Venue Record and What Each Side Needs

England's ODI record since 2024 raises questions despite their T20 form. Per ESPNcricinfo, they have lost five of their seven bilateral ODI series in that period and did not win a match at the 2025 Champions Trophy. England have no such hesitation at this ground. Seven wins from seven at Edgbaston since 2015 is a record built on familiarity with conditions that offer genuine seam movement in the first 10 overs before easing for batting.

India enter with a consistent ODI record against England and with Bumrah back after more than two and a half years away from the format. His return alongside Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar gives the attack a different shape compared to the T20I series. The 968-day absence is behind him he bowled his first ODI delivery of this return at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

Series Schedule

The series continues with the 2nd ODI at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, on 16 July, and concludes at Lord's on 19 July, according to the ECB's confirmed schedule.

Both sides carry their results from Edgbaston directly into Cardiff, and India face the same question that has followed them through this tour: whether a squad rebuilt around senior experience can find a way in English conditions that the younger T20 group could not.