Big Picture: Series on line amid wider narratives

Will this be Rohit Sharma's final appearance in India blue? Rumours swirled offstage in Cardiff, where England's own old master, Joe Root, made an unbeaten 99 to help level the series. Rohit played one of his less-fluent innings - though he was not alone in that on a challenging pitch - to encourage talk that India's selectors were set to call time on him 15 months out from the 2027 World Cup. However, BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia has since scotched that idea, saying unequivocally: "Lord's ODI won't be his last match."

India's next ODI series is not until late September, so either way Yashasvi Jaiswal probably isn't sitting expectantly by the phone right now. And we all know what a giant of the format Rohit has been; whether Ajit Agarkar and co are prepared to stick with him through to the World Cup, when he will be 40, is probably not going to be decided at Lord's on Sunday.

What will be decided is who wins this, the 22nd bilateral ODI series contested between England and India. England have only claimed seven of them previously, the most recent in 2018, but would dearly love to take another big scalp - having nabbed a rare away win in Sri Lanka in January. After victory at Sophia Gardens, Root was strident in his belief that this current iteration of England under Harry Brook are a better team than they are being given credit for, and a come-from-behind series win would make that argument more persuasive.

So too, mind, would another batter other than Root making some runs. Root has scored 175 without being dismissed, adding back-to-back half-centuries to his illustrious record; the next-highest individual score from anyone in England's top seven is Ben Duckett's 43 from Edgbaston (Liam Dawson made 68 in that game, but was left out in Cardiff because his bowling wasn't required).

Things might have been different in the second ODI if Shubman Gill had not picked out cover when looking in ominously good touch. Or, indeed, if Gill had won the toss. But Lord's could be another test for India's batters in seam-friendly conditions and if the world's No. 1 ODI side can't see off the team ranked No. 7, then the focus won't solely be on Rohit.

Form Guide

England: WLWWL (last five completed matches, most recent first)
India: LWWWW

In the spotlight: Jos Buttler and Rohit Sharma

It is an anomaly that arguably England's greatest white-ball player, Jos Buttler, has such a poor ODI record against India (average 21.96, strike rate 84.07). But what is becoming less anomalous is Buttler's underwhelming record in this format: it is over three years since his last hundred, and since the start of the 2023 World Cup he has averaged 26.44 across 31 innings. At Cardiff he dropped down to No. 6 but could only provide a fleeting reminder of his quality before being bowled middle stump.

Ain't no getting away from who's going to be the centre of attention in India's ranks. Rohit Sharma has been there, done it all, got the t-shirt. But he doesn't want an engraved watch and a pat on the back just yet. We are only three innings removed from Rohit creaming 79 off 69 balls against Afghanistan, after which Gill welcomed the "good kind of headache" presented by India's top-order options. Another scratchy knock here might result in headaches of different kind.

Team news: Washington ruled out

Tom Banton and Liam Dawson were released from the squad for the T20 Blast finals day on Saturday so are unlikely to play at Lord's. England could bring back Josh Tongue for Saqib Mahmood.

England (possible): 1 Ben Duckett, 2 Jacob Bethell, 3 Joe Root, 4 Harry Brook (capt), 5 Jos Buttler (wk), 6 Sam Curran, 7 Will Jacks, 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Jofra Archer/Josh Tongue, 10 Saqib Mahmood/Josh Tongue, 11 Adil Rashid

India will have to make at least one change for this game, with Washington Sundar ruled out due to a hamstring strain in Cardiff. While left-arm spin allrounder Harsh Dubey was drafted into the squad as a replacement, Kuldeep Yadav is also an option for the series decider. KL Rahul is also likely to return after recovering from illness, replacing Ishan Kishan.

India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Axar Patel, 7 Shivam Dube, 8 Kuldeep Yadav/Harsh Dubey, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Gurnoor Brar, 11 Prasidh Krishna

Pitch and conditions: Bat first, bat as big as you can

Anyone who remembers the 2019 World Cup final could tell you Lord's is not a venue that encourages fluent one-day strokeplay. The Test pitch for New Zealand's visit earlier in the summer was marked down as "unsatisfactory", and the one for the T20 World Cup final hardly helped England's women (though it seemed to play okay for Australia's). Batting first is the order of the day, as the surfaces tend to get tackier; not since 2017 has an ODI been won here by the team chasing (not unless they've had recourse to a Super Over anyway) and that was when Eoin Morgan's team had one of their periodic blowouts, dismissed for 153 against South Africa.

Stats and trivia:

• India's last ODI win at Lord's came all the way back in 2004 - when Dinesh Karthik, now on Sky's commentary team, made his debut.

• Overall, India have won four of their nine ODIs at Lord's, including the 1983 World Cup final. They also managed a tie in the rain against England in 2011.

• In Cardiff, Root became the sixth Englishman to finish on 99 not out in an international fixture - and the first in ODIs.

• Root has made 286 runs without being dismissed across his last three ODI innings, scores of 111* (in Colombo), 76* and 99*. The England record for runs between dismissals is 309, by Root, in 2018.

• Prasidh Krishna needs two more wickets to reach 50 in ODIs.

Quotes:

"Hopefully, the boys can learn from what he's doing - myself included - and realise how easy he's making batting look to be able to just rotate the strike."
Harry Brook says that he and his team-mates can take inspiration from Joe Root's recent ODI form.

"It was hard work against the new ball, batting up front is not easy, no doubt Rohit will work it out with his experience. He brings that calmness to the batting line up."
India bowling coach Morne Morkel on Rohit's form in the first two ODIs