ENG vs IND 2026: Is Virat Kohli playing in the 1st ODI?

India will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing T20I series when they take on England in the first One Day International (ODI) at Edgbaston on Tuesday, July 14. 

ENG vs IND: Toss update

England captain Harry Brook called the toss correctly and opted to bat first on a bright and sunny day in Birmingham. The right-handed batter stated that the surface is excellent to bat on and hopes it will offer spin to the likes of Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson in the second innings. 

On the other hand, India captain Shubman Gill wanted to bowl first, with both captain getting their choice. 

ENG vs IND: Virat Kohli returns to India’s ODI side

After missing the ODI series against Afghanistan due to injury, Virat Kohli returns to India’s 50-over side for the first time since January 2026. The right-handed batter will slot into the number three slot in the side, behind openers Gill and Rohit Sharma. 

Jasprit Bumrah also makes a comeback to the ODI setup. The right-arm pace bowler will play his first one-day game since the 2023 World Cup in Ahmedabad, where the Men in Blue lost to Australia. 

ENG vs IND: What did the captains say?

Harry Brook, England captain

“We’re gonna have a bat today. Looks like a good surface, don’t quite know what’s gonna happen, but we fancy our chances with the bat first. Hopefully, we can get a little bit of spin in the second innings. [On the start of the build-up to the 2027 World Cup] Same as what we did in the T20s, really. We got to try and assess conditions as quickly as possible and communicate well and see where we land at the end of the day. [On having a similar ODI and T20I squad] Definitely, definitely, yeah. Having similar amount of players in the T20 side to the one-day side, brings a lot of faith and trust in myself as captain and a lot of backing towards the players as well. So the XI that we’ve got today, we’re very happy to go out there and give India a good crack. [On lacking consistency in the ODIs] We’ve struggled with it a little bit over the last couple of years, but hopefully on the back of that we can turn a page really and start consistently performing as much as we can. We’ve got the side to do that for sure. [On the team combination] We’ve gone with two spinners and three seamers.”

Shubman Gill, India captain:

“[On losing the toss and bowling first] Actually, we’re looking to bowl first. [On India’s preparation after the T20Is] Well, I think most of the boys have been playing the T20s and the rest of the boys we got a bit of rest, I had a bit of training. Got here a couple of days before, so we were practicing. So the environment, the vibe has been really good. [On the importance of the series with the 2027 World Cup in mind] Important series for us, the conditions that we’re going to get here would be a little bit more similar to South Africa as compared to where most of the time we play in India. So in that context, the combination, what kind of different combination we can try and some of the players, who haven’t had that much experience in this format especially, would get some game time. So it will be really good for us. [On the return of the senior players] Yeah, definitely most of the seniors are back. We have got Virat Bhai, Rohit Bhai, KL and Boom back to the squad. So the experience is going to be massive for us. [On leading India again in England] Yeah, very excited for the series, have some really good memories in this venue particularly. So hopefully we’re going to add into that. [On the playing XI] So apart from the usual, we have got four seamers, with Dube and then we’ve got two spinners, Axar and Washi.”

ENG vs IND: Playing XIs

England:

India:

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (C), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Gurnoor Brar, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna