India opt to bowl; Virat Kohli returns in place of Shreyas Iyer – T20 IPL 2024

India opt to bowl vs England

Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl in the second ODI at Lord’s as India look to seal the three-match series. Virat Kohli returned after missing the first ODI with a groin strain; Shreyas Iyer made way for him in what was the only change for the visitors.

Rohit cited the moisture in the surface as the reason behind his decision. He also said it was better to “have a score in front” given the dimensions of the ground. The square boundaries are on the shorter side – 57 metres and 68 metres – but there is a long pocket of 91 metres at deep midwicket. The straight boundary measures 84 metres.

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England captain Jos Buttler said he would have “probably bowled first” had he won the toss, but was “50-50”. England went with an unchanged XI despite a ten-wicket defeat at The Oval. “Batting is our main strength and one game is not going to change that,” Buttler said.

England: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Stokes, 5 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 6 Liam Livingstone, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 David Willey, 9 Craig Overton, 10 Brydon Carse, 11 Reece Topley

India: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal

Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

Source: ESPN Crickinfo

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