India vs England, 2nd ODI - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Preview by Prakash Govindasreenivasan

One stand at one end of the Barabati stadium in Cuttack filled fast as the Indian players made their way in to train on the eve of their game. Shots that didn't count for runs, dismissals that meant little were met with impassioned cheers for hours. This was for a home T20I against South Africa in June 2022, when 100% attendance at matches had just been initiated by the BCCI following the covid-19 pandemic.

On Saturday (February 8), about two-and-a-half years after that sultry afternoon, they turned up once again to watch, admire and cheer the Indian players go about their business in training gear, filling up nearly half the stadium that can hold over 40,000 fans. Tickets for the game that will kick-start in the unforgiving afternoon heat on Sunday have sold out.

But that's Cuttack for you. Big-ticket India fixtures come sparingly to this tier-2 Eastern city, but when they do the stands fill out and the energy reverberating from them hits fever pitch. The fiercely partisan crowd has had the love reciprocated at times - Yuvraj Singh scored a career-best (and reviving) 150 in 2017 and the last time an ODI was played here, Rohit Sharma got a run-a-ball 63 and Virat Kohli (85 off 81) broke down a 300-plus chase like he has done so often in the format.

But that was six years ago. Much has changed in the Indian cricket landscape, and with those two batting protagonists. They now return to this venue older, battle-hardened, and in need of a hard reset after recent Test woes, even as India hold a 1-0 lead in the series and the wood over England in white-ball bilaterals for a long time.

England's pain points might not be as micro as India's. After the defeat in Nagpur, Jos Buttler felt his side needed to 'play better for longer'. England are packed with an enviable top-seven, but the inability to consolidate left them lagging behind in Nagpur. Cuttack offers them an opportunity to catch-up, should the pitch be a batter's ally like it usually is here.

When: India vs England, 2nd ODI, February 8, 2024, 01:30 PM IST

Where: Barabati stadium, Cuttack

What to expect: A hot, taxing day. And a 300-v-300 shootout? This venue has usually rolled out decks skewed heavily in favour of the batters, though the last ODI to be played here was six years ago in 2019.

Team News:

India

Kohli's readiness to play leaves India with an intriguing selection call to make. Yashasvi Jaiswal was curiously accomodated in the Indian XI in Nagpur ahead of Shreyas Iyer, who only came in because of Kohli's injury. Jaiswal gives India a lefty in a batting order dominated by right-handers but Shreyas has put in considerable time and effort into making #4 his own in this format recently.

With only two more ODIs to go before the Champions Trophy, the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Varun CV - who is in contention to be added to the squad for the multi-team event - could also need a look-in.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal/Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Axar Patel, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana/Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami

England

The batting composition should remain the same, while it could be tempting for Buttler to bring in the experienced Mark Wood.

Probable XI: Phil Salt, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c), Jacob Bethell, Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Saqib Mahmood/Mark Wood

Did you know:

- Since January 2023, Ravindra Jadeja has picked 31 wickets in 26 ODIs - numbers far superior to his fellow finger spinners Washington Sundar (9 wickets in 10 games) and Axar Patel (9 wickets in 14 games).

- Mohammed Shami is four away from becoming the quickest to 200 wickets in ODIs in terms of balls bowled.

- Liam Livingstone shrugged off his World Cup 2023 form to have an incredible 2024 in the 50-over format - Innings: 8 | Runs: 286 | SR: 133 | Avg: 57.20

- Post the 2023 World Cup, Brydon Carse has picked 9 wickets in 7 innings in the 50-over format - the most for England.

What they said:

"I personally don't think there's any problem. The last 3 one-dayers Rohit has played, he has scored 58, 64 and 35. The guy has got 31 one-day hundreds. Sometimes whenever there's a little lean patch, I don't think I'd be worried or thinking about their form. Yes in Tests in Australia it was a tough time. About one-dayers, he's always been scoring runs so not concerned." - India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak on Rohit Sharma's form.

Squads:

England Squad: Philip Salt(w), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(c), Jacob Bethell, Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Saqib Mahmood, Gus Atkinson, Mark Wood, Jamie Overton, Jamie Smith

India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Washington Sundar, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Arshdeep Singh