India’s frustrating tour of the United Kingdom finally has a win to show for it. At Edgbaston on Tuesday, Shubman Gill’s side chased down 259 with six wickets and 28 balls to spare, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series against England and banishing some of the gloom that had followed the tourists around the country.
Axar’s All-Round Masterclass
The star of the evening was Axar Patel, who delivered the kind of complete performance all-rounders dream about. With the ball, the left-arm spinner ripped through England’s middle order on his way to figures of 4 for 62, repeatedly finding grip and drift on a used Edgbaston surface. With the bat, he arrived with the chase wobbling and finished unbeaten on 57, sharing an untroubled stand with Washington Sundar that drained the contest of drama. The Player of the Match award was a formality.
England had earlier posted 258 all out after being asked to bat first. Liam Dawson top-scored with a fluent half-century and Joe Root ground out a fifty of his own, but the innings never found a top gear. Wickets fell in clusters through the middle overs, and a total that once promised to nudge 300 settled for something well short of it. Adil Rashid, so often England’s trump card in home ODIs, went wicketless for 34 as India’s left-handers used their feet intelligently.
Gill Leads From the Front
The chase was built on the captain’s bat. Gill stroked a commanding 80 before retiring hurt, an innings full of the silken timing that has defined his rise, and his exit briefly gave England hope of prising the door open. Instead, Axar and Sundar slammed it shut. Sundar’s unbeaten 52 was a study in calm, and by the time the winning runs came, the margin looked almost comfortable.
For Gill, the victory carried significance beyond the scorecard. India had endured a difficult few weeks on British soil, and questions about the team’s white-ball direction had grown louder with each setback. One emphatic ODI win does not answer them all, but it changes the tone heading into the second match on July 16 and the finale on July 19.
A Golden Fortnight for Indian Cricket
The result also caps a remarkable stretch for Indian cricket in England. Barely a week ago, India's women crushed England by 270 runs in a historic first Test at Lord's, and the men’s side has now added a statement win of its own at one of English cricket’s great venues. Two Indian teams, two marquee English grounds, two comprehensive victories.
There is a broader backdrop, too. With cricket returning to the Olympic programme at Los Angeles 2028, every major bilateral series doubles as a long audition, and the depth India showed at Edgbaston, where the sixth and seventh batters finished a tricky chase without alarm, is exactly what selectors will want to bottle for the T20 format the Olympics will use.
What Comes Next
England, for their part, have selection puzzles to solve quickly. The middle overs remain a problem with both bat and ball, and the absence of a genuine spin threat beyond Rashid was exposed ruthlessly. A must-win second ODI now awaits, and the hosts will need considerably more than the 258 they mustered here.
For India, the formula is simpler: more of the same. Gill’s fitness will be monitored after his retirement hurt, but the platform is set. After weeks of hard lessons in the UK, India finally look like a side that remembers how to win, and the timing, with a series there for the taking, could hardly be better.
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