India captain Rohit Sharma failed miserably on Thursday (Feb 6) in the opening ODI as the hosts made a poor start to their chase against England. Playing only in his third ODI since the World Cup defeat in November 2023, Rohit was dismissed for 2 by Saqib Mahmood as the Indian skipper continues his rough form. He was dropped from the Sydney Test during the Australia tour, raising question marks on his future in the side. 

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Rohit falls early

The Indian skipper has not enjoyed his stint with the bat in the recent months, having been at the top of the list of the critics. On the second ball of the sixth over, he was outplayed by Saqib Mahmood as India lost their second wicket of the innings as the scoreboard read 19/2. The innings did no favour to the veteran batter as he tries to return to form before the Champions Trophy 2025.

At the time of writing, India were 161/3 as Shubman Gill approached his fifty while Axar Patel was batting on 27 off 23. The pair had stitched a partnership of 50 runs in 51 balls as the Men in Blue were in pole position to win the match. 

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India still needed 86 runs to win and had 25.2 overs in hand to win the opening ODI in Nagpur.

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England bowled out for 248

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Having won the toss, England's decision to bat first proved to be right as Philip Salt (43 off 26) and Ben Duckett (32 off 29) stitched a partnership of 75 runs for the opening wicket. However, it was a runout that opened the doors for India’s comeback as Salt was dismissed on the fifth ball of the ninth over. The dismissal was followed by the wickets of Duckett and Harry Brook (0) as England went from 75/0 to 77/3.

Root and skipper Jos Buttler (52 off 67) then stitched a partnership of 34 runs before the former England skipper was dismissed by Jadeja. Batting on 19 Root was dismissed leg before by the veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja as he put a spanner in the work. Jacob Bethell was the only other batter to play a significant innings with 51 before the visitors were bundled out for 248.