England vs Pakistan 1st ODI Prediction: Who will win today's match?

The first ODI between England and Pakistan will get underway at the Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Thursday, July 8, under rather chaotic circumstances. Just a couple of days before the ODI series was to begin, England was forced to name a completely new squad.

The entire original contingent has been put into isolation after seven members (three England players and four support staff) tested positive for COVID-19.

When the England team takes the field for the first ODI against Pakistan, they will be led by Ben Stokes instead of regular skipper Eoin Morgan.

The revised 18-man squad has nine uncapped players but no place for Alex Hales despite his impressive white-ball performances of late.

Apart from Stokes, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jake Ball, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, and James Vince are some of the players who have experience of playing for England before. Crawley, though, has only represented England in red-ball cricket so far.

Despite the sudden turn of events, Ashley Giles, managing director of England cricket, remained positive and asserted:

"It's a great opportunity to play on the biggest stage, and for most of the players selected it's not necessarily something they would have been expecting 24 hours ago. It's an exciting group of players, with some young talent and some players who have impressed at domestic level over a long period of time. We're in unprecedented territory, in terms of replacing an entire squad…”

We have named a new 18-strong group for the Royal London Series against Pakistan.

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 6, 2021

England vs. Pakistan 1st ODI Match Prediction: Who will come out on top in Cardiff?

England will be going with a relatively untested playing XI in the ODI series. So, Pakistan, who would have otherwise been underdogs going into the series, will now firmly believe that they can win the ODI series.

The visitors need to ride their luck, though. They haven’t had great preparations going into the one-day series, with rain marring their intra-squad practice match.

However, they have the players who can trouble an inexperienced England team. The hosts might find it mentally tough to put together a clinical performance.

A lot of eyes will be on Pakistan pacers Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali, who have been in good form of late. However, Pakistan would be expecting more out of Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain.

Frustrating injuries have hampered leg-spinner Shadab Khan’s progress in recent times, and he would be keen to set things right.

In the batting department, Pakistan will be dependent on captain Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, and Mohammad Rizwan, who have displayed wonderful form in recent games.

Snapshots from the Pakistan team's indoor training session at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff#ENGvPAK | #HarHaalMainCricket | #BackTheBoysInGreen pic.twitter.com/lgSQ6e3l8L

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) July 7, 2021

Pakistan’s bowling coach Waqar Younis is confident of the side performing well despite their preparations not being ‘ideal.’ He said at a recent virtual press conference:

"These are new conditions, last year we were a younger side, we are a far better side now. Hasan is bowling really well, we travel in a large pack now because of Covid, so it gives you a chance to work with a larger group of bowlers."

Prediction: Pakistan will win the first ODI against England