India may have opened the three-match ODI series with a comfortable six-wicket win over England at Edgbaston, but the decision to leave Kuldeep Yadav out of the playing XI continued to spark debate after the match. The visitors made a dream start with the ball as Jasprit BumrahPrasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar tore apart England’s top order. The hosts went from 61 for no loss to 107 for 6, early on Joe Root and Liam Dawson stitched a 121-run partnership for the seventh wicket to revive the innings and take England to 258. During the recovery, former Indian pacer Varun Aaron questioned India’s team combination, arguing that Kuldeep’s absence has deprived the side of a real catching option in the middle. “India has Kuldeep Yadav. Axar Patel is bowling arm balls in the bat and bowling all those sliders. You have to play with your speeds and seam position to get something out of the wicket,” Aaron said in the commentary. It was also felt that England’s batsmen became comfortable against Axar Patel as they did not expect a significant turn from the left-arm spinner. “The English batsmen are set to play Axar as an off-spinner. It is very obvious that he is not going to return the ball passed to the batsman. How do you get wickets in the middle overs? Jasprit Bumrah cannot be your answer to all your problems,” added Aaron. Despite England’s fightback, India finished the chase with ease to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Captain Shubman Gill he once excelled at Edgbaston with a fluent 80 before retiring injured due to cramps, while Axar Patel backed up his four-wicket haul with an unbeaten 57. Washington Sundar was also unbeaten on 52 as the pair shared a match-winning 102-run stand to seal the chase in 45.2 overs. Earlier, Axar finished with figures of 4/62 after cleaning up England’s lower order, but Root’s 76 and Dawson’s career-high 68 had helped the hosts recover from a precarious position after India’s fast bowlers dominated the opening phase.