Rejuvenated India aim to seal series

A fair bit has changed in England's lineup since they last beat India in an ODI, almost to this day four years ago. Out of the four J's - Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Jos Buttler, only two remain, with Jacob Bethell being a suitable alphabetical replacement, and a top-order experiment. In those four years, Bazball has risen and fallen.

Back then, it was Buttler freshly taking on the ODI reins. Harry Brook has now potentially begun his all-format tenure. Yet, despite a 4-0 T20I win, the scrutiny on McCullum doesn't go, just like it doesn't with his Indian coaching counterpart.

India bagged their first win of the tour, largely thanks to an England top-order collapse that left them at 80/5. Joe Root and Liam Dawson admirably effected a recovery, but the larger issue remains in how frequent these collapses have become for England.

For the second ODI, England will have their priority clear: try not to lose the way while batting and give ample bowling cushion to Jofra Archer. On two sides of the Root-Dawson rearguard, they lost 5-19 and 4-30. They did enough to stave off Jasprit Bumrah, but it meant trying to go extra hard on the other bowlers and facing the consequences.

For India, Shubman Gill's form was a big uptick as was Axar Patel's all-round return to the ODI setup. The eyes will invariably be on Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, who scored a combined 17 runs in the first game. But this looks like a much more balanced unit that hurtled to loss after loss in the T20Is.

What: England vs India, 2nd ODI

When:July 16, 2026 at 5:30 PM IST (11 AM local time)

Where:Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

What to expect?

Warm and breezy, with a high of 28 degrees, and no real prediction of rain. Across the last four ODIs at the venue (2023-2025), 280 was crossed in six out of eight innings.

Team news

England: Their T20I and ODI outfits carry a largely similar look, but with the 50-over World Cup closing in, the finer adjustments need to now come into effect. They went with three seamers and two spinners, which is likely a combination they don't tinker with given Dawson's batting contribution in the first game. The search might not have ended, but Bethell should continue as Ben Duckett's opening partner.

Predicted XI:Jacob Bethell, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson, Josh Tongue, Adil Rashid

India news

On the fitness front, India had a brief worry when Shubman Gill limped out on 80, forced to retire hurt, but later confirmed he should be fit for the second ODI. Before that, Gurnoor Brar had to abort his run-up before the 48th over, with Axar filling in for him. There's been no update on Brar, but if they need an easy replacement, they have one of Prince Yadav or Arshdeep Singh to choose from.

Probable XI: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, KL Rahul (wk), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar/Prince Yadav/Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah

Did you know:

- India last played an ODI in Cardiff in 2014, with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli the only two from that XI in the current India squad

- Joe Root averages 70.69 since the start of January 2025, with four hundreds and seven fifties in 19 innings

- Since the 2023 World Cup, only New Zealand bowlers have a better strike-rate than India (28.6 vs 29.9)

What they said:

"When you see your middle order, lower middle order score runs like that and finish off the job for the team, you get a lot of confidence as a captain and as a top order batsman" - Shubman Gill, on India's perfect start to the ODI series.

"We try and make selections based on the pitch. Obviously, if we'd have got a few more runs there, then our spinners might have been able to tie them down through the middle a little bit better. But, look, it comes back to that 5 for 20, which wasn't ideal. And another day we get 320-330, and our spinners play a massive part," - Harry Brook, on the team combination, and potential changes later in the series.