Fantasy Preview: England vs India, 2nd ODI

Having handed England the thrashing of a lifetime in the first ODI at The Oval, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian side, on Thursday at Lord’s, would be aiming to wrap up the series and pile misery on the newly-appointed England captain, Jos Buttler. India have not won a bilateral ODI series in England in eight years, and on Thursday, the Men in Blue will have the opportunity to score a famous win and move further in their journey of reclaiming the top spot in ODI cricket. 

Very early days, but Thursday’s encounter at Lord’s feels like a must win for Jos Buttler to ease pressure off him and his side, and stop the world from overreacting.

A cracking contest awaits us at the Home of Cricket. 

Ground Details

A total of 9 ODIs have been played at Lord’s since the start of 2017 and it’s proved to be a pretty good batting venue, the average first innings score reading 274. That being said, 250 has been passed only once in the last 4 ODIs at this venue. The last ODI played at Lord’s, between England and Pakistan, saw the hosts post 247 and then score a dominant 52-run victory.

We saw India blow England away with the ball and then register a handsome 10-wicket win victory in the first ODI, but Lord’s has proved to be a largely bat-first venue. Outside the tie in the 2019 World Cup final, each of the last six ODIs played at the venue have been won by the team batting first. You’ll have to go all the way back to 2017 to find the last instance of a team pulling off a successful chase at Lord’s in ODI cricket. 

On the bowling front, seam has dominated proceedings here. Since 2017, pacers have taken nearly 80% of all wickets to fall, have averaged 25.4 compared to spinners’ 40 and have maintained a near-identical economy rate (5.3 compared to 5.1). 

It goes without saying that the Indian seamers, once again, would be licking their lips at the prospect of having a go at England in pace-friendly conditions. 

Suggested Team

Captain and vice-captain suggestions

Grand League: Rohit Sharma ©, Jasprit Bumrah (vc)

Small League: Jonny Bairstow ©, Mohammed Shami (vc)

Stats that matter 

* Mohammed Shami has picked 3 or more wickets four times in his last six ODIs

* In 15 matches in England, Jasprit Bumrah has picked 28 wickets at a remarkable average of 21.42, striking once every 28.5 balls.

* The last time Joe Root played India at Lord’s in ODI cricket, he smashed an unbeaten 113. 

* In his last 10 ODIs at England, Rohit Sharma averages 90.50 and has passed the fifty-run mark seven times. 

* The first ODI at The Oval was the first time in 13 ODI games that David Willey went wicketless. 

Grand League punts

* Rohit Sharma demands a place in your fantasy XI thanks to his ludicrous record in England since 2019. It would be prudent to take a gamble by making him either captain or vice-captain.

* Shami is a wicket-machine (evident from the stat in the section above this one) and is another must-have in your fantasy XI.

* Bairstow and Root might not have fired in the first ODI, but they’re behemoths in this format and it is always wise to back them to come good. 

Here are the Top 10 Criclytics Projections

Probable XIs

England: Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (c & wk), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Craig Overton, David Willey, Brydon Carse, Reece Topley

India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli / Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna