Media365
Virat Kohli returned to India’s playing eleven for the second ODI against England in Cuttack on Sunday, which was the first news that the capacity crowd at the Barabati Stadium wanted to hear.
Kohli missed the first ODI of the three-match series because of a knee niggle, as opener Yashasvi Jaiswal made way for the batting legend’s return.
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India, who won the opening match of the series in Nagpur by four wickets, lost the toss on Sunday and England opted to bat first.
Speaking after the toss, India skipper Rohit said, “It was a good performance in the first game. That’s what I loved about (it). The energy was very good despite not being on the field for a while….Shreyas (Iyer) prides himself on that intent and attitude and not to forget the contributions of Shubman (Gill) and Axar (Patel) as well.”
However, the loudest cheer of the afternoon came when Rohit shared the news about the playing eleven.
“Black soil pitch, not sure (about the track’s nature), maybe play on the slower side, that’s what I expect. Two changes, Jaiswal makes way for Virat,” said Rohit, and the crowd expressed its joy with a huge roar.
The other change India made was awarding mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy with his ODI debut. He came in for fellow spinner Kuldeep Yadav.
Before the ODI series, England had lost the five-match T20I series 1-4.
