Rohit Sharma has cited India’s three-match Royal London One-Day International Series against England – which begins at Trent Bridge tomorrow – as key preparation for next year’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

The showpiece 50-over competition comes to these shores in less than a year’s time – including five matches in Nottingham.

Top order batsman Rohit – who scored an unbeaten century at Bristol on Sunday as India beat England 2-1 in the three-match IT20 Series – recognises it as an ideal opportunity to gain valuable experience in less familiar conditions ready for the rest of the world’s arrival next summer.

“This series is very important since the World Cup is going to be played in this part of the world a year later,” he said.

“So in terms of preparation, it’s going to be good for us to see where we stand as a team and what sort of targets are going to be available for us.

“We have seen in the recent series that England played against Australia that they were really high scoring games that were played, so it’s going to be crucial to see where we are and what we need to do as a team moving forward.”

In the One-Day International England played at Trent Bridge against Australia in June, they posted a world record 50-over score of 481-6 as Jonny Bairstow and home favourite, Notts Outlaws’ Alex Hales, both hit centuries.

“In the last series they were high-scoring games and it was at this very ground that England score 480 runs, so I’m expecting this to be a high-scoring series as well.”

This time, the players will be making use of a different wicket to the one used on that occasion, but Rohit nevertheless expects plenty of runs – and a tough contest.

He added: “In the last series they were high-scoring games and it was at this very ground that England score 480 runs, so I’m expecting this to be a high-scoring series as well.

“When you are playing on high-scoring pitches, you want to bat second preferably and this team likes chasing down target, which in the past we have done, but any which way we will take, as the toss is not in you control.

“When we go out to bat, we don’t go out thinking we have to score 400 runs. We just play normally and see where we are at after 30 overs, analyse at that point and then see what score we are looking to put on.

“The England team is very good, and they have recently shown us how good they are.

“They are the number one-ranked team so it’s not going to be easy for us to come and snatch victory, so we will have to be at our best and hopefully everything clicks together.”

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