England improve in ODI cricket thanks to Harry Brook, Brendon McCullum and Joe Root with win over India, latest maximum | Cricket news

India found it impossible to dismiss Joe Root in the ODI series as the England batsman made 249 runs without losing a wicket.

It may also be impossible to dismiss Root’s view that England’s 50-over squad is on the rise. After a few torturous years in the format, including a tough 2023 World Cup, there are signs of progress.

Now it’s back-to-back series wins under captain Harry Brooke with success against the No. 1-ranked Indian team – sealed with victory in the Lord – after the triumph in Sri Lanka in January.

In both of those 2-1 wins, England showed character to fight back from 1-0 down before coming out on top in the deciders.

The feeling around the ODI squad is much more positive than it was in November, that’s for sure.

The 3-0 rout in New Zealand, on a tour now remembered more for Brook’s brawl with a bouncer in a nightclub than the collapse of England’s top order, was their sixth defeat in seven ODI series.

The question was not just whether England would be at a second consecutive 50-over World Cup when they came out in 2027, but whether they would even qualify for the tournament at all.

Ranked eighth and with only the top nine, including already qualified co-hosts South Africa, assured of places, England knew their continued malaise in ODIs could lead to relegation to the qualifiers.

Now that fear is gone.

What is currently working for England in ODI cricket?

England are starting to look like a fully functioning team again. Not quite the level of 2019 when they were the best over-50 team on the planet, but one that can compete.

Ben Duckett and his new partner Jacob Bethel scored close to 200 runs in the winner-takes-all clash at Lord’s in the win over India.

Duckett and Bethel, aided by some wayward bowling from India in the absence of leading man Jasprit Bumrah through injury, found a strong combination of aggression and composure.

Duckett scored 141 – eclipsing Sir Vivian Richards for the highest ODI score at Lord’s – and after a recent Test ton against New Zealand, now appears to be back to his best after a torrid Ashes on and off the field.

Bethel, meanwhile, bolstered his 91-run knock with the key wicket of Rohit Sharma in India’s excellent but ultimately unsuccessful chase, having been brought into the attack when head coach Brendan McCullum nudged Brook gently to deploy the left-armer.

McCullum and Brooke’s relationship (they will no doubt be dubbed ‘Buzz and Haz’ at some point) is working well, with the ODI win following a 4-0 thrashing of India in the previous T20 series that lifted the team to the top of the world rankings in the format.

Perhaps England would be better off keeping Brooke solely as captain of the white-ball teams, rather than giving him the Test captaincy in addition to – or instead of – those gigs?

Root – another candidate to replace Ben Stokes as Test captain – has been a highlight for the hosts in the ODI series, showing his ability to innovate, manipulate, accumulate and resuscitate the bat.

His 76 not out at Edgbaston gave his team a sniff of victory in the first ODI. His unbeaten 99 won them their second. His 74 not out then played a role in England amassing their highest total in a List A game at Lord’s – 387-3 – in the third innings.

What do England still need to work on?

Root’s class, however, showed his team-mates in the first two matches, with a number of players to make rash tackles in Birmingham and then again on a difficult pitch in South Wales. Brooke’s innings at Sophia Gardens, the 16th of the competition, was extremely frantic.

Afterwards, Brook spoke about how England can learn from Root’s strike rotation and composure, and what they need as they prepare for next autumn’s World Cup. You still feel that they are vulnerable on surfaces that do it a bit like the tester team.

Another aspect to completely nail the XI makeup.

England strained for the series opener against India, perhaps because of the success of that approach in Sri Lanka, with just two flashy seamers selected in Jofra Archer and Josh Tong along with all-rounder Sam Curran.

Liam Dawson did score a crucial half-century, sharing a hundred partnership with Root after England melted away from 61-0 to 107-6, but his inclusion was probably the wrong decision as the hosts required an extra paceman.

They fixed that in the last two games with Dawson going on to dominate the World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Which seamers should join Archer and Curran in the XI?

Archer – who feels he is bowling as consistently as ever, a sentiment hard to argue with – and Curran look set to feature in the XI.

Curran has brought a new dimension to the side since his recall last summer and extinguished India’s hopes at Lord’s with three wickets in six balls at the death.

His left-hand angle and crafty moon balls proved a real antidote to the right-arm diet England went on during their dismal Champions Trophy campaign at the start of 2025, McCullum’s first tournament as a white ball.

Josh Tong, Gus Atkinson, Saqib Mahmood, a fit Braydon Kars and, when fit again, Jamie Overton are the other contenders for starting spots.

In an ideal world, one of them will be the go-between that Liam Plunkett was during the 2019 World Cup winning campaign.

You also wonder what the future holds for Dawson, who will be 38 by the 2027 World Cup. Will he make it that far or will England prefer to push for young all-rounders like Rehan Ahmed and James Coles?

England’s rise in ODI cricket can be measured again when they host Sri Lanka for three games in September, live Sky Sportsbefore visiting Australia in November and then South Africa next January for a further three-match series.

These will be series England fans now look forward to rather than dread, thanks to the rise inspired by Brooke, McCullum and Root.

England vs India Full Results

T20s (England won the five-match series 4-0, now ranked)

ODI (England won the three-match series 2-1)