After a dominant 4-1 T20I series win, India carried their momentum into the ODIs, defeating England by four wickets in Nagpur on Thursday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
India's bowlers and batters fired in unison, with key players stepping up ahead of the Champions Trophy.
Shubman Gill, batting at No. 3 in Virat Kohli's absence, returned to form with a superb 87, while Shreyas Iyer bolstered his middle-order credentials with a quickfire 59 off 36 balls.
All-rounder Axar Patel showcased his versatility, scoring a fluent 52 from 47 balls after being promoted to No. 5 ahead of K L Rahul and Hardik Pandya.
In the bowling too, Mohammed Shami's 1/38 will reassure a lot of fans -- his first One-Day International for India in 15 months, while the spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav did well in the middle overs.
However, the biggest takeaway was the performance of young Harshit Rana, who showed a lot of heart to bounce back after getting carted in his opening over, to finish with creditable figures of 3/53 in seven overs.
Rohit Sharma's prolonged slump continues to be a major concern. The captain suffered another failure with the bat as he was dismissed for just 2. He has not gone past the 20-run mark in his last 10 innings in international cricket, including nine in Tests and one in ODIs.
With just two ODIs left before the Champions Trophy, Rohit faces an uphill battle to rediscover form against a high-quality England pace attack of Jofra Archer, Saqib Mahmood and Brydon Carse.
Rohit is a master batter when it comes to 50-overs cricket. Very few batters have dominated ODIs like he has done.
His incredible record speaks for itself in ODIs, with 10,868 runs in 266 matches at an average of 48, with 31 centuries. He is the only batter to have hit three double centuries in the format.
A strong start could turn things around, and Cuttack's high-scoring conditions offer the perfect setting for redemption.
The last three ODIs at the Barbati stadium in Cuttack have been high scoring games. The last match played at this venue was way back in December 2019, when India beat the West Indies by four wickets in a high-scoring game.
India and England last played in Cuttack in January 2017 when India amassed a huge 381/6 in their 50 overs but the visitors ran them close as they fell short by 15 runs.
India enjoy a dominant record at the Barabati stadium, having won 13 out of the 17 matches played at the venue.
Their last defeat in Cuttack came more than two decades back -- against New Zealand in 2003 -- but since then have won seven matches in a row while one game against Australia was called off due to rain.
India could reshuffle their playing XI with Kohli expected to be back while Arshdeep Singh could replace Mohammed Shami, who could be given a break.
They will most likely drop Yashasvi Jaiswal, who failed on his ODI debut, with Gill reverting back to opening and Kohli at No. 3. Just like Rohit, Kohli also needs a good score in the last two games.
Kohli's injury is not that series according to vice-captain Gill.
'When he woke up in the morning, he had some swelling in his knee. He was fine till yesterday's practice session. There's nothing to worry. He will definitely be fit for the next game,' Gill said after India's victory in Nagpur.
Apart from the 70 against New Zealand in the Bengaluru Test and 100 not out against Australia in Perth, Kohli has nothing to show in his last 15 innings in eight Tests since October last year.
But like Rohit, he is one of the greats in One-Day Internationals. He scored a record-breaking 765 runs in 11 matches in the 2023 World Cup where India lost to Australia in the final. He is the third highest run-getter in 50 overs cricket with 13,906 runs in 295 matches at an incredible average of 58.18, having hit 50 centuries and 72 fifties.
For England, their batting was a big let down in the first match. Phil Salt stroked a quickfire 43 from 26 balls while Ben Duckett made 32 from 29 balls but both failed to make most of their good start.
Joe Root (19) and Harry Brook (0) were the big letdowns as they perished before half-centuries from Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell saved the day for the visitors.
England struggled in the middle overs against India's spinners with Axar, Jadeja and Kuldeep all going below six per over, while taking five wickets between them. Adapting to slow conditions will be key for England's Champions Trophy preparations in Pakistan.
With the series on the line, both India and England have plenty to play for in Cuttack.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, K L Rahul (wicket-keeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
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