On 2nd February (Sunday), Indian captain Rohit Sharma and former batsman Virat Kohli made their arrival at Nagpur. The Indian men’s team will engage in a three-match ODI series against England commencing February 6 (Thursday) at the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) Stadium in Nagpur. These three ODIs against World Cup 2019 winners will provide a preparatory platform for India in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 to be held in Pakistan from February 19 to March 9 across three cities and one in Dubai.
Rohit and Virat were seen checking out from the Nagpur Airport on Sunday evening. Rohit Sharma had just flown to Nagpur from the BCCI Naman awards in Mumbai Saturday evening, while Kohli came in from Delhi. The former India captain had been in Delhi from last Monday to Saturday, having played in Delhi’s Ranji Trophy Elite Group D match in which they were pitted against Railways at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.
Kohli was expected to shine in his first Ranji Trophy match for Delhi in over 12 years, but the 36-year-old right-handed bat could manage only 6 runs in 15 balls in the first innings.
His performance in the forthcoming home series against the Englishmen would certainly matter for India’s hope of lifting the ICC Champions Trophy cup for the third time in history. India will be playing all its matches in the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai.
#WATCH | Maharashtra: Indian Captain Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and others arrive at Nagpur airport for the 1st ODI match against England, on 6th February.
— ANI (@ANI) February 2, 2025
India clinched the five-match T20 series 4-1 against England. pic.twitter.com/4vQjLfdDtH
India’s T20I team will feature only six players in the ODI series against England: Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, and Arshdeep Singh; the second and third matches are set to be played at Cuttack and Ahmedabad on February 9 and 12, respectively.
In the last 50-over match between the two teams, India defeated England by 100 runs at Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on October 29, 2023. Rohit Sharma top-scored for the Men in Blue in this ODI World Cup league stage match.
