England have managed to shoot themselves in the foot, having completely negated the victory in the Investec Test series by contriving to put up the worst show by an international ODI team in quite a while. Alastair Cook’s men have looked completely out of sorts, and totally ordinary in the three ODIs played so far.
Even James Anderson, the man who caused so much trepidation in the Indian batting ranks in the Test series has looked at best a County Cricket level bowler. The climb down for England has been steep and it is particularly dangerous as the ODI World Cup to be held in Australia in 2015 is only a few months away. It looks as though England have already written themselves out of contention for the World Cup and remain content to pick up victories now and then in Test cricket. One day cricket for England seems to have become a forgotten art.
The problem lies with the way this England side is structured. Alastair Cook is no one day internal batsman, and yet he leads the England batting line-up. Ian Bell isn’t anywhere as good at one day cricket as he is at Test cricket. Eoin Morgan, who has been England’s premier one day international batsman for the last few years has seen a great dip in form and confidence, looking completely out of his comfort zone against the Indian spinners.
The hope for England lies in youth, and it is young players such as Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler and Joe Root who should rebuild the England ODI side. Alex Hales has done enough to show that he has a future in limited overs cricket, except that he has also shown a propensity to get bogged down in his 30s and 40s, only to lose his wicket easily. Ben Stokes and Chris Jordan have been huge disappointments.
India are in a happy position though, and would want to finish the series off by blanking out England. Giving them some sort of joy after the mauling suffered in the Tests. It is unlikely that India would be making any changes for this match although the series is pretty much in the bag. Sanju Samson and Karn Sharma are talented young players, but they may have to wait a while before making their debut for India.
England would be without the services of Ian Bell. But with almost the entire side performing badly, there are no real replacements for the non-performing players in the team. Steve Finn and Harry Gurney are set to continue because of lack of options.
Match Conditions
The match will be played at Headingley in Leeds which has a record of losing cricket matches to the English rain, a familiar culprit. But this time the weather conditions seem more than adequate, with the Met department forecasting just 5% chances of rain. So for the first time in quite a while here in Headingley, we should have a full day’s one day cricket. The pitch is a batting paradise, and one may fully expect the Indian batsmen such as Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan, and Suresh Raina to enjoy themselves. It is hoped that Virat Kohli would be using this last opportunity to make some sort of an impression before leaves England after what has been a torrid tour for him.
Probable sides:
England (likely):1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Gary Ballance, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Steven Finn, 10 James Anderson, 11 Harry Gurney
India (likely): 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Dhawal Kulkarni, 11 Mohammed Shami
