India's head coach Gautam Gambhir, right, and captain Shubman Gill attend a nets session in Birmingham, England, Monday July 13, 2026, ahead of the fourth one-day international cricket match between England and India
| Photo Credit: AP
Over the weekend, a strong north-easterly breeze brought some much-needed respite to many parts of the United Kingdom reeling under an intense heatwave. On Tuesday (July 14) at Edgbaston here, the Indian cricket team will be hoping for the winds of change to blow in its direction too when it takes on England in the first of three ODIs.Part of the lengthy build-up towards the ODI World Cup late next year in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia, the ODIs had a narrow but important purpose.Now, they have acquired the additional burden of treating the scars – rather brutal injuries – that have ravaged the team after six straight losses to Ireland and England in as many completed T20Is.It will help that there will be a wholesale change in personnel, with ODI specialists such as skipper Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul coming in.Kohli will be the cynosure of most eyes, for he hasn’t played since the IPL final on May 31, and sat out of the home fixtures against Afghanistan because of a hamstring injury.Jasprit Bumrah is also set to feature for the first time since the ODI World Cup final loss to Australia way back in November 2023.
