Jasprit Bumrah returned to lead India to its first win on the United Kingdom tour. The star Indian fast bowler, playing his first 50-over game since the 2023 ODI World Cup final, completely changed the mood of the tour as India won by 6 wickets in the first ODI of the series in Birmingham.

Some aggressive fast bowling led by Jasprit Bumrah led India to a small collapse in the English batting order. The hosts made a comeback and scored 258 runs on the board, but it was not enough to stop the revamped Indian team, which had the services of Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul etc.

It was a big sigh of relief for coach Gautam Gambhir, who had no clue during India’s 0-6 defeat in the T20 series against Ireland and England. After India decided to bowl first in Birmingham, Bumrah set the tone with a sensational opening spell.

England vs India, 1st ODI: Updates

England began their innings with two attacking batsmen, the regular Ben Duckett and the experimental Jacob Bethell. Both struggled against Bumrah’s swing in the early overs on Tuesday, playing and missing several times in the first 10 overs.

Bumrah could not get any success in the first 10 overs, but he troubled the England openers with the quality of his fast bowling. The cracks appeared just outside the powerplay, when Shubman Gill brought on fast bowler Gurnoor Brar in the 13th over of the game.

Brar was taken to the cleaners by Bethel and Duckett, who had scored 26 of England’s first 51 runs in their opening spells.

With the field spread, Shubman trusted his guts and brought back his childhood friend in the hope of a breakthrough. The 6 feet 5 inches tall fast bowler struck immediately and dismissed both the openers with short balls..

He was the first to go to Bethel. Against a rising delivery, he managed to find Washington Sundar at deep midwicket. Two balls later, Duckett succumbed to a sensational catch by Jasprit Bumrah at the edge of the third-man rope.

In a spell of sensational captaincy, Shubman brought Bumrah back in immediately after the breakthrough and, once again, the impact was immediate. England captain Harry Brook, who terrorized the Indian bowling unit in the T20I series, was unable to understand Bumrah’s angles and was trapped at slip, giving India three quick wickets.

England completely collapsed due to the fall of three wickets in quick succession. Prasidh Krishna struck twice in the 17th over and sent back Jos Buttler and Sam Curran, sealing the fate of the English team.

The host team, unbeaten since last week, had accepted defeat by the 20th over of the first ODI.

After scoring 51/0 in 10 overs, England were reduced to 93/5 by the 20th over.

Axar ends the innings after fightback

Just as India looked set to clean up England early, veteran Joe Root put on a heroic partnership with spinner Liam Dawson for the seventh wicket. Root and Dawson added 121 runs, which is the highest partnership for the seventh wicket for England against India.

This stand not only helped England stabilize their innings but also counterattack India in the death overs. India looked frustrated and did not understand how to get both of them out, but they remained patient and waited for the opportunity.

That moment came in the 44th over of the game. On the last ball of the over, Dawson attacked Akshar Patel strongly, but missed the shot and was caught out at deep backward square leg. When the ball came to Rohit Sharma, a veteran of 285 ODI matches, he did not make any mistake.

Dawson’s wicket caused another collapse for England, who were looking to score runs quickly and were all out for 258 in the 48th over of the match.

Axar Patel, who started the collapse with the wicket of Dawson, ended the innings by taking three more wickets.

It was a significant performance with the ball, considering he was picked apart in his previous game, the final T20I of the series.

Shubman Gill is the star in India’s challenge

Can the target ever be pursued without making it difficult for India? Probably not.

Batting on a pitch with slightly variable bounce, England took the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Thousands of people who had come to this ground to see the two greatest batsmen of this generation perhaps for the last time, returned disappointed.

Rohit could not really go against the bounce on the pitch and eventually fell to Sam Curran in the eighth over. Frustrated after defending several balls, Rohit tried to take on England’s slowest fast bowler but ended up delivering the ball straight to Harry Brook at mid-off.

England captain Brook seized the opportunity and brought back his best bowler, Joffra Archer, in the next over, just as Shubman had done with Bumrah at the start of the innings.

The result was once again immediate. Archer sets up Kohli with a short ball before slipping in a straight fuller delivery. The ball hit Kohli’s pads and ended his innings, which lasted just six balls.

Batting on a pitch that was easy to swing but still offered little variable bounce, Shubman and his vice-captain Shreyas Iyer added 101 runs.

This partnership left England begging for a wicket, which was not going to come.

The rebuilding effort involved plenty of running between the wickets from both batsmen, with Shreyas Iyer relying heavily on strike rotation as his primary scoring option.

Shubman was ready for this, but it had an impact on his body. England felt a strange smell in the 26th over when Shubman retired hurt due to cramps and limped off the field.

Shubman’s departure briefly disrupted India’s innings, with Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul losing their wickets in the next 10 balls.

Flexible Akshar Patel took India forward

Things could have gone much worse for India after the fall of two senior players. But Axar Patel handled the situation calmly and led India to a spectacular victory in the first ODI of the series.

After a poor performance in the T20 series, Axar scored 57* off 52 balls, first soaking in the pressure and then finally hitting a flurry of boundaries, taking India to the target in the 46th over of the match.

India arrived in Birmingham carrying the burden of a winless tour and a lack of confidence in the dressing room. They walked away with something more valuable than two scores. Bumrah reminded everyone why he remains the best fast bowler in the world, Shubman achieved another successful chase with maturity in the role of a captain and Axar Patel provided the cool finishing touch.

A win doesn’t erase a poor tour of the United Kingdom or answer every question that has arisen over the past month. But after weeks of tactical confusion, constant cut-offs and changes, injuries and six consecutive defeats, Birmingham finally gave India what they were desperately looking for: belief that this team could find its identity once again.

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