India vs England, 2nd ODI - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Toss - England bowl

No surprises there especially after having a look at that surface. It's a belter of a wicket so we can expect more runs today. Liam Livingstone was presented his cap so he will be making his debut today. Sam Billings is ruled out of this game as well with an injury he suffered in the first game. Mark Wood has been rested. England have recalled Dawid Malan and Reece Topley. The seamer played an ODI for the first time in more than four years when he was recalled to the side last year against Ireland. For India, as widely expected, Pant replaces the injured Iyer.

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna

England (Playing XI): Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, David Malan, Jos Buttler(w/c), Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley

Who should replace Iyer?

Despite the resounding performance, bad news was in store for one Indian player on Tuesday as Shreyas Iyer suffered a bad injury on the field to partially dislocate his shoulder. He has been ruled out of the series now and is likely to be sidelined for a long time. India will have to take a call on his replacement today and Rishabh Pant is certainly a frontrunner. He did lose his place a while ago in this format and even though he has made a mark in the other two formats recently, he will be keen on getting his spot back in 50-over cricket as well. Suryakumar Yadav might also get an opportunity to make a debut after thrilling in the T20I series.

Build up

The focus might slowly start drifting towards the IPL and the T20 World Cup but for England, this ODI is indeed important. Having already lost the Test and the T20I series on this tour, the world champions will be under pressure to justify that tag and go back home with something to show for. Trailing 1-0 in the series, England will see themselves squander another trophy to India if they go on to lose tonight. The task only gets tougher with Eoin Morgan ruled out of the remaining ODIs. With Joe Root and Jofra Archer already out of the picture, India will fancy themselves to put this English side under more pressure and wrap up the series tonight before the final game on Sunday.

Coming back to Root, his absence clearly exposed England in the opening ODI which should have swung the other way considering the kind of start the visitors made in the run chase. Jonny Bairstow was breathing fire and so was Jason Roy. India's hopes were fading especially with the home side not having the services of some of their first choice bowlers. However, Prasidh Krishna starred on debut with four wickets and Shardul Thakur chipped in with three to turn the game on its head as India won comfortably in the end. What would have pleased India is how Krunal Pandya stepped up to the task on his debut as well. Over the last 4 months, India's bench strength has certainly grown and that augurs well for the side going forward.

KL Rahul was a relieved man too on Tuesday (March 23) after finally striking some form. Batting in the middle order certainly helped him bide some time and rediscover his mojo. India are certainly pumped up so it will be interesting to see how England respond. Can Stokes take up more responsibility and fill Root's void? Can Jos Buttler deliver with the additional burden of captaincy now thrust upon him in Morgan's absence? We will soon find out. Welcome to the live blog for the second ODI. Let's hope for a cracker.