TimesofIndia.com in Birmingham: Over 200 kilometers away from Southampton, preparations for the ODI group are about to begin as the Indian T20I team will avoid a whitewash in the fifth and final match against England. Seven members of India’s ODI squad are likely to net at Edgbaston ahead of the series opener on July 14.Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill were in London ahead of the three-match series. According to a report in The Times of India, Rohit conducted several training sessions with local clubs in and around London with the support of young bowlers.This is an important task for Rohit, 39, and Virat, 37. Rohit was affected by a hamstring strain during the IPL but made a timely comeback in the series against Afghanistan where he scored 16, 48 and 79 points respectively.Kohli, meanwhile, will make his first appearance since the 2026 IPL final when he sustained a hamstring injury. This forced him to miss three ODIs in Afghanistan and Yashasvi Jaiswal took his place. Now that Kohli is fit and available, Jaiswal is not in the equation despite his tremendous effort against the Afghans.Kohli also started work after the CoE gave the all-clear in late June. He has been playing semi-regular sessions at Lord’s, the venue for the third ODI.Captain Gill has also been in the UK for the past week and has conducted a number of training sessions there. He also attended the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone and watched the semi-final between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic from the Royal Box at Wimbledon.Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Gurnoor Brar and KL Rahul arrived in Birmingham on Friday. The quartet is also expected to feature in one of Team India’s three practice matches before the series begins.The ODI series will begin in Birmingham on July 14 before heading to Cardiff (July 16) and London (July 19).
