Debutants Shine as India OverPower the Visitors | India vs England 1st ODI review |

 As the 14th over of the English innings came to an end, the Indian fans at home were silenced by the sheer dominance showed by Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow. It looked as if they would go on and finish the match in the next 15 odd overs. But as they say, a game of cricket isn't over until the very last ball is bowled and a young tall lanky bowler, making his debut, proved just how. What followed was one of the most enthralling scripts of a cricket match ever written. How did it all unfold? Read the article to find out just how. 

Playing XI : 

India - Rohit Sharma (VC), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya (Debut), Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna (Debut).

England - Jonny Bairstow, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Eoin Morgan (C), Jos Buttler (VC & WK), Sam Billings, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood.

India 1st Innings : Late start and a good finish help India put a par score

After losing the toss for the 8th time this series, Virat Kohli's team was asked to bat first by Eoin Morgan. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma took their time so as to set the tempo of what was about to come on the dicey Pune pitch. The duo batted with character and respected the better balls and didn't miss on any opportunity to latch onto the bad ones. Rohit and Shikhar put up a solid 64-run stand before the Hitman was dismissed for 28 by Stokes. The in-form batsman Virat Kohli walked in to bat next and played solid cricket along with fellow Delhi-lad, Shikhar. The duo accelerated the run rate and put the hosts in charge. Virat reached his 61st ODI half century, scoring 56 runs before being dismissed by Mark Wood as he celebrated with joy on breaking the healthy 105-run partnership. This dismissal almost changed the complexion of the entire match as a cluster of wickets soon fell in the form of Shikhar (98), Shreyas (6) and Hardik (1) as India went from cruising at 169-1 to struggling at 205-5 in 40.3 overs. KL Rahul and Krunal Pandya, however, were able to weather the storm and started batting freely. KL played a couple of elegant shots and announced the arrival of his form. Krunal, on the other hand, batted with all his might as runs were coming galore. They put India on the driver's seat once again as the duo helped India reach 317 runs for the loss of 5 wickets with both KL (62 off 43) and Krunal (58 off 31) finishing with match saving half-centuries. The English bowlers, at the other end, couldn't get much help as the pitch offered little to nothing to the bowlers. Ben Stokes was the pick amongst the bowlers as he orchestrated India's batting collapse in between the 30th and 40th overs, finishing with figures of 8-1-34-3. Mark Wood picked a couple of wickets as well. 

England 2nd Innings : Roy and Bairstow flourish but Indian bowlers prove to be just too good 

Chasing a total of 318 runs in ODI cricket is never easy, so that's why the plan of the opening batsmen was to attack from ball one and that's exactly what they did. They dispatched the Indian attack with ease as runs started to come at a haemorrhaging rate. Their goal was simple : put India on the back foot and score as many runs and as fast as possible so that the middle order has very little to do, and to some extent, they did manage to do that that. After 14 overs, England were 135-0 but little did they know what was about to come next. Prasidh Krishna, making his debut, got the important wicket of Jason Roy (46) and gave India a key breakthrough. Then like a castle made out of sand, it all came crumbling down for the visitors. Ben Stokes was dismissed for 1 by him as well, as in walked captain Eoin Morgan. Morgan failed to capitalise upon the catch Kohli dropped of him on his very first ball and couldn't score score big. Shardul Thakur dismissed Bairstow for 94 (66), Morgan 22 (30) and Buttler 1 (2) in quick succession as England was treading on hot water at 176-5 after half the overs were bowled. Sam Billings and Moeen Ali tried to put up a partnership but yet again the debutant Prasidh Krishna struck back as he dismissed Billings for 18. Moeen Ali soon fell to Bhuvneshwar for 30 and the lower order couldn't contribute much to the cause as England's innings was halted at just 251 runs. After a point it looked as if winning the match for England was a walk in the park but with some exquisite bowling and fantastic character shown by the Indian bowlers, it seemed almost impossible. Debutant Prasidh Krishna was the pick amongst the bowlers as he registered figures of 8.1-1-54-4. Shardul Thakur was also amongst the wicket takers, finishing up with figures of 6-0-37-3. Bhuvneshwar grabbed a brace and there was a wicket for Krunal Pandya as well as India beat England by a comprehensive margin of 66 runs. 

Man of the Match - Shikhar Dhawan (98 runs)

Conclusion : The surface proved to be a heaven for the batsmen as there was pace, seam and extra bounce on offer, contrary to other Indian pitches. England failed to follow the foundation laid by their openers as wickets fell galore as the ball became old. The Indian bowlers completely ran through the middle order of the best cricketing team in the world right now and asserted their dominance. India's batting was strong at most parts but it seemed to struggle as the wickets kept on falling in between the 30th and 40th overs. There were a few gray areas of improvement like the middle order or getting wickets with the new ball but hopefully it improves as the games progress. All in all, it was a commendable performance by the hosts as they take a 1-0 advantage in the three match series which has surely lots to offer to the fans. 

Here's hoping a speedy recovery to Shreyas Iyer for his partially dislocated shoulder. 

Important points : 

• Shreyas Iyer is expected to be out of the rest of the series, so do hope Suryakumar Yadav to get his debut cap in the next game.

• Prasidh Krishna becomes the first bowler to pick 4 or more wickets in his debut

• Krunal Pandya's 50 off 26 balls was the fastest half-century by a debutant.