Rishabh Pant or KL Rahul - who should India pick in their playing 11 for 1st IND vs ENG ODI 2025?

Team India are all set to enter a crucial ODI season which includes a three-match ODI series against England, and the all-important Champions Trophy 2025. Given the tight schedule, the Men in Blue do not have the luxury to chop and change and try out varied combinations before settling on one. They have a few sets of matches to wing it and hopefully land on the right note.

One of the biggest conundrums India have to deal with is in their middle-order. The majority of the squad picks itself, but with Rishabh Pant available to feature in ODIs, the middle order is not a straightforward choice anymore.

The first ODI between India and England is scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 6 in Nagpur.

On that note, let us take a look at who should India pick in their playing 11 for 1st IND vs ENG ODI 2025 between Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.

#1 Left-handed option vs Calm head against spin

India's middle-order has been conundrum-filled ever since Rishabh Pant's return. The fact that Pant's ODI career was taking off right before his unfortunate injury coupled with the fact that he is a left-handed option. Given that Ravindra Jadeja has not emerged to be a relied floater option, and India's lack of left-handed middle order batters, Pant always emerges as a very lucrative option to be played.

The spin-friendly pitches in the subcontinent will bring the spinners into play in the middle overs. With most teams sporting leg spinners in their setup these days, batting sides could well be choked with a right-handed dominated middle order.

While Pant's trait offers a lot to the Indian side, who are now valuing the left-hand-right-hand combination more than ever, KL Rahul is one of the best players of spin in the setup. Team India fared well in the subcontinent during the 2023 Asia Cup, and the 2023 ODI World Cup despite having a right-handed dominated middle order. The fact that they played all kinds of spin well, and their rich vein of form as a unit, made the need for a left-handed batter irrelevant.

The ploy did not fare well in Sri Lanka, but in hindsight, those pitches were the equivalent of rank turners in Tests. As a result, a left-handed batter's presence would not have guaranteed anything (Pant was dismissed for 6 in his lone outing that series). Furthermore, such extreme nature pitches are unlikely to be prepared by India or the ICC in the coming months.

#2 Current form

Not much can be made of their recent ODI scores since it came a long time back. The pair have been involved in red-ball cricket over the last few months.

KL Rahul had played a different role during the Border-Gavaskar series after being promoted to the top of the order again. After being up against the new ball on that occasion, Rahul now has to adapt to facing largely spinners. He had an eventful campaign in Australia, despite fading out towards the end. The wicket-keeper batter also played in Karnataka's recent Ranji Trophy clash against Haryana, where he scored 26 and 43 in the first and the second innings respectively.

Pant, on the other hand, had a lukewarm Border-Gavaskar series. He played for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy clash against Saurashtra, but failed to impress. The left-handed batter scored only 1 and 17 in the first and second innings respectively, and was dismissed to spin across both innings.

#3 India's need for an aggressor in the middle vs India's need for continuity

The trio of Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul has worked wonders in terms of offering solidity and switching gears. However, Team India tends to get trapped in the middle overs without Iyer to take on the spinners. A link that Australia exploited in the 2023 ODI World Cup Final.

An unreliable lower middle-order, and questionable batting depth, the ODI batting unit might use a touch of spark in the middle. Pant, apart from his left-handed ability, comes across as a threat for the opposition bowlers Despite an overwhelming lack of evidence, the X-Factor tag remains.

Though his numbers against spin in recent times has not been promising in T20I cricket, he has the luxury of time before switching gears in the 50-over format.

KL Rahul has been the perennial dispensable candidate over the years, ever-present in the firing line In each of his past instances where he has been sacrificed, there has been some degree of fault from his side, in terms of approach or lack of runs.

However, in this case, he has hardly put a foot wrong. Granted he was not among the runs in Sri Lanka, but then no other batter was. The numbers are completely on his side ever since his switch to the middle order, and he has been an assured presence too.