Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel smashed half-centuries as India defeated England by four wickets in the opening one-day international on Thursday and took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series that is a warmup for the Champions Trophy.

NAGPUR, India — Joe Root is back in England's ODI team for the first time since the 2023 Cricket World Cup. The 34-year-old Root will bat at No. 3 in the first match of the one-day international series against India in Nagpur on Thursday. It will be his 172nd ODI appearance for England.

The three-match series that gets underway in Nagpur on Thursday will be the final ODIs for India as well as England ahead of the Champions Trophy, meaning both teams will be looking to finalise their ideal playing XI and fine-tune their strategies for the mega event over the course of the next one week.

England batsman Joe Root will make his first ODI appearance since 2023 after being named in the team to face India in the opening match of the series in Nagpur on Thursday. Root, England's leading test run scorer and second on the ODI list,

Joe Root expresses excitement on being back in the ODI setup for England (Photo Source: Twitter) The Champions Trophy is set to be one of the biggest tournaments in international cricket and the fans will be looking forward to seeing the best international teams in the world compete with one another in the ICC event which will take place in Pakistan and Dubai starting from February 19.