England and India meet in the second ODI of India’s 2026 tour of England at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, with a 1:00 pm local start under largely dry skies.
England’s probable side is captained by Harry Brook, with Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell at the top, Joe Root and Jos Buttler in the middle, and all-round help from Sam Curran and Will Jacks. The pace attack features Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue, with Liam Dawson and Adil Rashid as spin options.
India are led by Shubman Gill and have a heavyweight top and middle order of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, followed by Axar Patel and Washington Sundar. Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Prasidh Krishna form the pace group, with Kuldeep Yadav the main spinner.
Batting should be easier after the first 10–15 overs, and par is around 290–300. Our preview narrowly favours England, with India expected to win the toss; bowling first suits if there is cloud, otherwise posting a big total is just as effective.
