Another punishing England tour of India approaches the end, the scorelines ugly, the tight moments spurned by the visitors. With one match left to play on Wednesday, Jos Buttler’s team have six defeats and one victory. Should they endure a one‑day international series whitewash, it won’t be off‑Broadway: the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with its six‑figure capacity, awaits.
A year ago it was the Test side that tumbled to a 4-1 defeat. That tour began with a famous victory in Hyderabad and a tasty fifth-Test decider was in the offing when England took a first-innings lead in the fourth. Then came the contractually obligated collapse to spin before an innings defeat in the final Test.
The tourists have had periods of promise here but were thumped at the start and end of the Twenty20 series, and the ODIs have extended a strain of misery that goes back decades. England have not won a white-ball series in India for 40 years. This was always going to be a difficult first assignment for Brendon McCullum as white-ball head coach, up against history, the T20 World Cup champions and a crack 50-over team, too.
But the final ODI cannot be an end-of-term fling. Ben Duckett has acknowledged that the upcoming Champions Trophy is the priority, that victory there would forgive a series defeat here. But while this is not a side that lacks in optimism, the defeats, piling up, must be nibbling away inside, right? England have not won a 50-over series since September 2023. A win, even one that’s consolatory, feels required before a cut-throat major tournament that will feature only three group-stage games.
Amid the difficulties, enter Tom Banton. The Somerset batter was called up for the final ODI after Jacob Bethell sustained a hamstring injury last week and is expected to replace the Warwickshire left-hander in the squad for the Champions Trophy, a substantial promotion after three years in international exile.
Banton’s story began in 2019 when he was the kid too gifted to ignore after England’s World Cup win, a handful of appearances clocked up in both white-ball forms over the subsequent two years. Everything came in a rush. Lean times on the T20 merry-go-round left him pushed into the background.
His 2024 was fruitful in the Blast, while a prolific red-ball campaign – 891 County Championship runs at 49.5 – included a remarkable 46 at No 11 against Surrey with an ankle injury. The crocked right-hander used his bat as a walking stick before flaying away with minimal footwork. He finds himself back in England gear after a couple of hundreds in the ILT20 last month.
It is a slightly odd call from England to replace Bethell with Banton, a southpaw who bowls handy spin substituted by a right-hander who can keep wicket. Banton is largely a top-order man in T20s but his 50‑over identity is a mystery.
Owing to the clash of the One-Day Cup with the Hundred, Banton has not played List-A cricket since August 2020, when he batted at five in an ODI against Ireland. With the 26‑year‑old expected to play in Ahmedabad, he will have to find his one-day tempo against a rampant bowling lineup at a gargantuan venue. It’s a tough ask.
Banton joins a batting group in need of someone to play the long game, with four half-centurions in the first two ODIs but no one yet to reach 70. Ravindra Jadeja has caused plenty of grief, six wickets and two red-inkers with the bat. The thing for England to cling on to? India are back where they were stunned 15 months ago by Travis Head’s blade in the World Cup final.
