A confident Indian team looks set to overpower England with yet another dominant show in the second ODI at the Lord's on Thursday despite Virat Kohli's dodgy groin and dismal form.
The former India captain, who is enduring a prolonged bad patch, missed the first game due to groin strain and it is still not clear if he is fit for the second game.
Struggling Virat Kohli
Kohli's poor show, however, hasn't affected the team much as it is playing extremely well in the white-ball games. After clinching the T20 series 2-1, it cantered to a convincing 10-wicket victory in the opening ODI.
While the negative aspect of Kohli's absence is not getting a solid show from the country's premier batter in pressure games, on the flip side, his poor form is an opportunity for others to show that they can win games on their own or at least own the big stage like Suryakumar Yadav did in final T20I at Nottingham.
Rohit Sharma and his men will hope that the pitch at the Lord's plays like Oval, where conditions helped them get lateral movement both in the air and off the track.
Dangerous England batsmen
A batting line-up comprising Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy and Liam Livingstone can scare the daylights out of any bowling attack but at the Oval, the tables turned 180 degree on a seamer-friendly conducive surface.
The Lord's has traditionally been a batting belter but when it comes to rookie bowlers like Prasidh Krishna, it will also be about adjusting to the famous slope of the Lord's ground.
Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Arshdeep Singh
England: Jos Buttler (C), Moeen Ali, Jonathan Bairstow, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Craig Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Ben Stokes, Reece Topley, David Willey
When: July 14 (Thursday)
Where to Watch: SONY SIX (English), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi), and SONY TEN 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels
Live Streaming: Sony LIV
Timing: 05:30 pm IST onwards
