India may have kicked off the three-match ODI series with a comfortable six-wicket win over England at Edgbaston, but the decision to leave Kuldeep Yadav out of the playing squad continued to spark controversy after the match. The visiting team got off to a fantastic start Jasprit BumrahPrasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar broke England’s top order. The home team fell from 61 unbeaten to 107 in 6 Joe Root and Liam Dawson The seventh wicket stitched together a 121-run partnership to rejuvenate the innings and take England to 258 runs. During the recovery period, former India pacer Varun Aaron raised questions about the Indian team’s combination and felt that Kuldeep’s absence deprived the team of a genuine wicket-taking option in the middle order. “India has Kuldeep Yadav. Axar Patel Just hitting the ball into the batsmen with your arms and then hitting all those sliders into the bowling ball. You have to adjust your pace and seam position to get something out of the wicket,” Aaron said in his commentary. He also feels that England’s batsmen have become comfortable against Axar Patel as they did not expect a major turnaround from the left-arm spinner. “The English batsmen are preparing to play against Axar as an off-spinner. It is obvious that he will not turn the ball past the batsmen. How do you get wickets in the middle order? Jasprit Bumrah cannot solve all your problems,” Aaron added. Despite England’s counterattack, India easily completed the chase and took a 1-0 lead in the series. team leader Shubman Gill He performed well again at Edgbaston, scoring a flowing 80, before retiring due to cramp, while Axar Patel backed up his four-wicket haul with an unbeaten 57. Washington Sundar also remained unbeaten with 52 runs and the pair combined for a match-winning knock of 102 to seal the victory in 45.2 overs. Earlier, Axar finished with figures of 4/62 after cleaning up England’s lower order, but Root’s 76 and Dawson’s career-best 68 helped the hosts recover from their shaky position after a dominant start by India’s fast bowlers.
