Jos Buttler added another milestone to his international career on Tuesday when he became only the second England player to play 200 ODIs. The wicketkeeper-batsman reached his peak in the opening three-match ODI against India at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Only former England captain Eoin Morgan, who finished his career with 225 ODIs, has played more matches for England. Buttler made his ODI debut against Pakistan in Dubai on February 21, 2012, and established himself as one of England’s best bowlers. Over the past 13 years, he has been a key contributor to England’s success as a team, including their 2019 ODI World Cup triumph. The 34-year-old also led England in white cricket before handing over the captaincy to Harry Brook. England elected to bat first after winning the toss at Edgbaston. Skipper Brook said the form looked good in batting and hoped it would help the bowlers later on. “We will have a bat today. It looks like a good surface, we don’t know exactly what will happen, but we want our luck with the bat first. Hopefully, we can get a little bit of rotation in the second innings,” said Brook while throwing. India captain Shubman Gill admitted that he would have preferred to bowl first, but welcomed the return of several senior players in the squad. “Yes, of course a lot of seniors are back. We have Virat Bhai, Rohit Bhai, KL and Boom back in the squad. So the experience will be huge for us,” said Gill. Virat Kohli returned to international cricket after nearly seven months, after missing the home ODI series against Afghanistan due to a leg injury. India fielded three front seamers in Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar, while Shivam Dube made his first ODI appearance in nearly two years. England XI: Jacob Bethell, Ben Duckett, Joe RootHarry Brook (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jofra Archer, Liam Dawson, Josh Tongue, Adil Rashid. Indian XI: Rohit SharmaShubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Washington Sundar, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Gurnoor Brar, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna.
