England vs India, ODIs: Things we learned from the three-match series

England gave a strong account of themselves in the three-match ODI series against India as they went on to clinch the trophy after a 2-1 victory. After being down 1-0, the Eoin Morgan-led side showed complete authority over the Indians in the remaining two matches in which they looked at sync in every department. Having said that, England has shown their credentials and could the front-runners in the ICC World Cup 2019 at home.

The third game at Headingley, saw India being restricted to a paltry 256/8 before England took charge with Joe Root hitting a sublime unbeaten hundred to help the hosts seal the deal inside 45 overs. Prior to this India has won nine successive ODI series and were stopped by the number one side in the world this time around. India will be going back to the drawing room and have plenty to ponder upon in addressing the issues.

The next ODI series for India ahead of the World Cup comes in 2019 where they face the Aussies twice at away and home respectively. England was a better side in this series and rightly deserved to win the trophy.

Here are the things we learned from the three-match ODI series.

Root gets runs in a crunch situation

The twin tons came at a crucial time for England Test skipper Joe Root. Prior to this, in eight innings he had managed a solitary fifty. This was Root’s second and third ton of 2018 and it could not have come at a better time. With the Test series next, Root will now be looking to get this form into the longest format of the game. If England is to do well in Test cricket, Root is needed to play a major hand. The successive hundreds might just help him to convert starts to big scores in Tests.

Root was superb against Kuldeep Yadav and never allowed the wrist-arm spinner to settle down. After a failure in the first game, he came back strongly to define himself and got his side the victories. In the 2nd ODI, he smashed 113* and got England to a massive score. On Tuesday, he remained calm and added a valuable 186- run partnership with Morgan to get his side home.