Jos Buttler is unsure of what the future holds for one-day international cricket with England’s white-ball captain accepting the format has been “pushed a little bit towards the margins”.
England begin an ODI series with India in Nagpur on Thursday, the three matches serving as a starter before the main: this month’s Champions Trophy. The 50-over tournament is back after an eight-year absence, the period in between seeing a proliferation in franchise Twenty20 cricket as well as three men’s T20 World Cups.
“I’ve always enjoyed 50-over cricket,” said Buttler. “It’s always been one of my favourite formats. But it’s certainly been pushed a little bit towards the margins in recent years, with the way the scheduling is and the rise of T20 and franchise cricket.
“I still think if you talk to guys about winning a World Cup, they’d probably say a 50-over World Cup ahead of a T20 World Cup at the moment. Whether that continues to be the case moving forward, I don’t know. I always think of the ’99 World Cup being something I watched as a kid. Maybe [for] the 20-year-olds now it’s all about T20 World Cups.”
ODIs have appeared to be low in the list of priorities for English men’s cricket since their 2019 World Cup victory at home. The one-day domestic competition has been relegated in status, operating in the shadows of the Hundred during the summer. Internationally, it can be seen through the use of Joe Root: England’s No 3 has been regularly rested in the format, playing just 28 of his side’s 62 ODIs since that super-over win against New Zealand.
With a major tournament to prepare for, Root is back in the 50-over mix for the first time in 15 months as England look to settle on a full-strength XI. “If you can pit your best teams against each other and you put your best players out there, I think that’s the way to keep 50-over cricket relevant,” Buttler added.
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England team for first ODI v India
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Phil Salt (wk), Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (capt), Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood
Root is the only addition to the squad England used in their 4-1 T20 series loss to India, in as the innings controller at one-down. “He’s back with that cheeky smile on his face and really enjoying his cricket,” said Buttler.
The batting lineup has extended for the series opener in Nagpur, with Jacob Bethell at seven instead of the all-rounder Jamie Overton. Ultra-aggression remains the method, though the captain has demanded better execution. The longer format does ask for some adjustments.
“It’s long enough to test you that you do need to still bat properly in some situations as such or have a good enough technique to do that,” said Buttler. “But obviously you need to be powerful and aggressive and able to score at a certain rate.”
Jofra Archer will play in the series opener after being an ever-present in the T20s, time being made up after years of injury trouble. “Any time you ask him how he’s travelling, he’ll say he’s had two years out and had enough rest,” said Buttler. High pace alongside Adil Rashid’s leggies remains the way with the ball.
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India, on the other hand, are much-changed, perhaps to England’s relief. Abhishek Sharma and Tilak Varma were exhilarating in the 20-over games, a glimpse into the future, but are not in the one-day squad. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are back and still the frontmen in this form.
Both struggled on the tour of Australia that finished in January and runs were not found when they briefly returned to domestic first-class cricket in recent weeks. But both still bring the prestige of 81 ODI hundreds between them and were the leading run-scorers at the World Cup in India less than a year and a half ago. Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Shubman Gill are other big names present for the assignment.
The hosts have made the late decision to add Varun Chakaravarthy to their ODI squad, with the leg-spinner still uncapped in the format. Chakaravarthy took 14 wickets in the T20s, the mayhem he caused too bothersome to ignore for the second half of the tour. England, it should be added, have not won a one-day series in India for 40 years. A relaxing warm-up appears unlikely.
