TimesofIndia.com in Birmingham: Over 200 kilometres away from Southampton, where India’s T20I team will look to avoid an abject whitewash in the fifth and final match against England, preparations will get underway for the ODI bunch. Seven members of India’s ODI squad are likely to hit the nets at Edgbaston ahead of the series opener on July 14.Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill have all been in London ahead of the three-match series. As TimesofIndia.com reported, Rohit had a couple of sessions at local clubs in and around London, utilising the support of young bowlers.It is an important assignment for the 39-year-old Rohit and 37-year-old Virat. Rohit had been affected by a hamstring injury during the IPL but returned in time for the series against Afghanistan where he scored 16, 48 and 79 runs, respectively.Kohli, meanwhile, will be making his first appearance since the IPL 2026 final where he picked up a hamstring issue. It forced him to miss the three ODIs against Afghanistan, with Yashasvi Jaiswal taking his place. Now that Kohli is fit and available, Jaiswal is not in reckoning despite slamming a ton versus the Afghans.Kohli, too, has hit the ground running after getting an all-clear at the CoE at the end of June. He has been undergoing semi-regular sessions at the Lord’s, which is the venue for the third ODI.Skipper Gill, too, has been in the UK for the past week and has had multiple training sessions at local grounds. He also attended the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Silverstone and graced the Wimbledon Royal Box for the semi-final between Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Gurnoor Brar and KL Rahul arrived in Birmingham on Friday. The quartet are also expected to play a role in one of three practice sessions for India before the series gets underway.The ODI series begins on July 14 in Birmingham before moving to Cardiff (July 16) and London (July 19).
