Birmingham, July 14 (IANS) Former India captain MS Dhoni returned to the cricket spotlight on Tuesday, drawing a roaring reception from the Edgbaston crowd as he watched the opening ODI between India and England from the stands in Birmingham.

The 45-year-old wicketkeeper-batter was spotted during England’s innings. When the stadium cameras focused on him, loud cheers filled the ground as fans recognised one of India’s greatest cricketers. Dhoni was there with his wife, Sakshi, and daughter Ziva, enjoying the match from the stands.

Bollywood actress Kriti Sanon also added to the star-studded atmosphere. She was seen watching the game and, being linked with London-based businessman Kabir Bahia, attracted a lot of attention as cameras captured her enjoying the action at Edgbaston.

Dhoni’s appearance came just days after he celebrated his 45th birthday at Trent Bridge, where he watched the third T20I between India and England. The former captain has been following India’s white-ball tour of England and has remained one of the biggest draws even while off the field.

During the match, Dhoni also caught up with former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik. Their interaction quickly went viral on social media as fans embraced the reunion of the two former teammates.

On the field, all-rounder Axar Patel brought out his career-best performance of 4-62 as Joe Root was left stranded on the other end at 76 to guide England to 258 all out in 47.5 overs in the first ODI against India at the Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham on Tuesday.

England bounced back from a dramatic middle-order collapse to post a competitive total after Joe Root and Liam Dawson put together a fantastic 121-run partnership for the seventh wicket in the opening ODI against India.

Ben Duckett scored 43 off 45 balls, and Jacob Bethell added 14 off 31, giving England a strong start. They managed to put up 61 runs for the opening wicket while effectively handling Jasprit Bumrah’s opening spell. This was Bumrah’s first ODI game in 968 days.

–IANS

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