Dhawan preferred in the opening race

India-England ODI series starts from today

India-England cricket series

After dominating England in the Tests and Twenty20s, India are aiming for a winning opener in the ODI series starting on Tuesday. Skipper Virat Kohli has made it clear that Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan will be the opening pair in the match to be played at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.

World champions England are expected to put up a more bitter resistance in the ODI series. Therefore, India will have to take tough decisions in terms of team selection. Dhawan, 35, lost his place in the squad for the first Twenty20 match against England. So, it will be interesting to see if Dhawan will secure a place in the ODI team with this energetic performance.

K for the opening position. L. Rahul and Shubhaman Gill are also in the race. Apart from that, Prithvi Shaw of Mumbai and Devdutt Padikkal of Karnataka have been neglected even after scoring runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Therefore, this is a golden opportunity for Dhawan to keep his place in the team and to silence the critics.

Churas for fourth place in Suryakumar-Shreyas

Rishabh Pant has also returned to India's ODI squad after consistent performances against Australia and England. His inclusion in the final 11 is considered certain. Apart from that K. L. As Rahul has been playing at number five in ODIs since last year, two Mumbaikars, Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer, are vying for the fourth spot.