After Rohit Sharma smashed his way back into some form and helped his team seal the ODI series, India will now be looking for a clean sweep as they prepare for the third and final ODI against England.
It will also be the two sides’ final ODI before the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, one last chance for them to finalise their setups.
Ahead of the third ODI between India and England, here are our match preview and predictions.
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India vs England 3rd ODI | England tour of India 2025 | 13:30 IST, February 12
The English batters—all of the top six—were among the runs in Cuttack, with Ben Duckett and Phil Salt giving them a scare once again. Joe Root, Harry Brook, and Jos Buttler also got runs in the middle order, building on the platform set by the openers, but they know that in Asian conditions one of them will need to bat through, yet none of them managed to do that. Liam Livingstone’s lower-order fireworks saw England cross the 300-run mark, which ought to be a positive sign for Buttler and Co, though the England captain will be expecting more responsibility from his set batters.
There was not much for the English bowlers as Rohit Sharma launched into them early on alongside Shubman Gill, which took the game away from the visitors. Livingstone was more than handy for his captain with the ball as well, as was Jamie Overton towards the end of the innings, although the game was all but done by then.
Sharma finally found some form, smashing his way to a 32nd ODI century. Not only will his form be crucial ahead of the Champions Trophy, his opening partner Shubman Gill’s composed innings will also boost confidence. Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel continued to be a solid glue in the middle order, though Virat Kohli’s poor run continues and is something the team management will be looking at.
With the ball, the Indian spinners continued to trouble the English batters, with Varun Chakravarthy, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel hardly giving anything away. While the Indian seamers have been a touch expensive, young Harshit Rana has been a good find for them.
The final ODI will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which should bring about a lot of runs once again. On current form, we back India to clean-sweep the series.
Fantasy XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Joe Root, Harry Brook, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Liam Livingstone, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid
Venue: Ahmedabad
Winners Prediction: India
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