England national cricket team opening batsman Ben Duckett has revealed how the hosts intend to deal with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the upcoming three-match ODI series, saying England are ready to continue using the short-ball strategy if it proves effective.
Speaking to the media ahead of the opening ODI at Edgbaston, Ben Duckett said England will assess the conditions and the reaction of the batsmen before deciding whether to stick to the strategy. The comments come after England repeatedly attacked India’s young batting unit with short-pitched bowling during the recently concluded T20I series.
Meanwhile, Shubman Gill has given assurance to Virat Kohli on 2027 World Cup selection, and Rohit Sharma has the support of 2 selectors.
Jasprit Bumrah is going to join Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli against England!
India will benefit significantly from the return of several senior stars for the ODI series. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are back in the squad for ODIs, while Jasprit Bumrah is set to play his first ODI since the 2023 World Cup final. KL Rahul also returns along with captain Shubman Gill as India begin preparations for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
After the Shreyas Iyer-led Indian team struggled during the T20I leg of the tour, the visitors will be hoping for their senior players to bring more consistency and experience against a confident England team. In the opening ODI, Rohit, Kohli and Bumrah will be seen together in an ODI for the first time after the 2023 World Cup final.
The match is scheduled to be played on July 14 at Edgbaston, Birmingham, with the first ball scheduled at 11:00 am local time (3:30 pm IST). Weather forecasts indicate clear skies, reducing the chances of disruptions.
Edgbaston has produced contrasting limited overs competitions in recent times. England scored 400 before bowling out West Indies for 162 in May 2025, while last month’s Women’s T20 World Cup match between South Africa and Pakistan turned into a low-scoring encounter.
Despite their recent T20I success, England’s ODI form has not been reliable. Since the 2023 ODI World Cup, only Zimbabwe has recorded a lower win percentage among ICC Full Member nations in the 50-over format.
Ben Duckett explains short-ball plan for Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli
In the T20 series, England got a lot of success with aggressive short-pitch bowling against India’s young batsmen. Asked if the same approach could work against Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Ben Duckett said England would not hesitate to test the experienced pair if the strategy proved effective.
The left-handed opening batsman insisted that England will remain flexible rather than completely change their plans as the opposition have world-class players. Ben Duckett also backed captain Harry Brook to guide the bowling group during the series.
“We will test them. If they are very good at it (playing the short ball), we probably won’t use this strategy as much. But I’ll be honest, I’m not sure, if we feel it’s working then we can continue with it,” Duckett said in response to a question from The Times of India.
“Certainly, our plans as a bowling group will have the leadership of Brookie (Harry Brook) as a rallying point.”
Ben Duckett also made it clear that England have a lot of respect for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, but insisted that his team will not change its overall philosophy because of the two individuals.
“Both (Virat and Rohit) are incredible players, but I don’t think we need to change our team dynamics too much. We have to stick to what we do and try to do better than them. At the end of the day, we don’t need to fear anyone when we go out there.”
“Jasprit Bumrah doesn’t have many weaknesses” – Ben Duckett
Ben Duckett also heaped praise on Jasprit Bumrah and admitted that the India pacer is one of the toughest bowlers he has faced across all formats. He pointed out that weather conditions could play a major role, with clear skies expected to reduce the amount of swing available to Bumrah.
“(Bumrah) doesn’t have too many weaknesses. It depends on whether the ball is swinging or not. He can obviously swing the ball both ways, close to 90mph, so hopefully it’s blue skies, no clouds and it doesn’t swing much. That will be very helpful,” Duckett said.
The England opener hopes India will use Bumrah in aggressive spells throughout the innings rather than saving him for specific phases. Having faced the fast bowler only in Test cricket before, Duckett admitted that batting against him in ODIs presents a different challenge as the batsmen simply cannot survive.
“He is the type of bowler who I think India will try to take wickets all the time throughout the innings and we have to try to match him. I have only faced him in Test cricket, where you don’t have to ultimately look to score runs very quickly. There is no pressure to score, whereas in 50-over cricket, you can’t escape that. You still have to find ways to score runs from him. But I think our players have faced him a lot and everyone has the confidence for him.” There will be different plans,” added Ben Duckett.
