The Prague Post - Bumrah returns for India as England bat in 1st ODI

Fast bowler Bumrah, one of the outstanding pacemen of his generation, was rested from India's recent 4-0 T20 series whitewash by England, with India team management looking to manage his workload in order to keep him fit for the Test and ODI cricket.

Virat Kohli, now retired from both Test and T20 international cricket, was included for the start of what could be the 37-year-old batsman's final series in England.

"We were looking to bowl first," said India captain Shubman Gill at the toss.

"It's an important series. The conditions we're going to get here are a little more similar to South Africa (for the 2027 ODI World Cup) than we get in India, so in that context what different combinations we can try and the players who haven't experienced this format will get game time," he added ahead of the first of a three-match campaign.

It was at Edgbaston last year that Gill made history by becoming the first batsman to make a double century in one innings of a Test and a score of 150 in the other.

"I have good memories of this ground, so hopefully we're going to add to that," said Gill.

Brook, explaining his decision to bat first, said: "We fancy our chances with the bat. Hopefully we can get something out of the surface later."

England had already named their side and, before play started, there was a special cap presentation to mark Jos Buttler's 200th ODI involving retired 2019 World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan.

Only Morgan, with 225 appearances, has played in more ODIs for England than Buttler.

Teams

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

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

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI), Mike Burns (ENG)

TV umpire: Sam Nogajski (AUS)

Match referee: Richie Richardson (WIS)

A.Slezak--TPP