Last Updated on 10 years by Charbel Coorey
Yes, another contest between two teams I don’t like. England and India fans, understand that I’m Australian and that’s just normal. Nonetheless, this is a chance to see how England and India are going ahead of the World Cup in about 6 months time (after the 1st ODI was washed out, in England, how surprising) in conditions where the bowlers are bound to get some assistance just as you expect they would in Australia & New Zealand.
I’m interested to see how these two sides go. For India, I’m looking forward to see how they fare in the limited overs stuff after playing England into form with horrible performances in the last 3 games of the Test series. After all, they are the current World champions and winners of the Champions Trophy in England. A side with players as good as Virat Kohli, despite his well documented run of poor form, will always be a danger in this format. For England, how will they respond to comments from Graeme Swann and Michael Vaughan regarding their World Cup credentials and their style of play in the ODI format? Personally, I agree that their style is a little old fashioned and they do use Test form to select players in the Test team. For example, Steven Finn has been super for England in ODI cricket – in fact, he was the shining light for England when thrashed 5-0 in India in 2011 and yet has lost his ODI place on the back of poor performances in Tests. Players like Alex Hales and Eoin Morgan need to be nurtured and supported to make sure they play their best as natural strokemakers in the side.
In ODIs between these two sides in England, the home side has the edge, winning the 5 match series 3-0 in 2011, that too after thumping India 4-0 in the Tests. An interesting clash awaits here as to see how much England’s confidence has improved since the home series against Sri Lanka and how India will fare in an overseas away series after they found things difficult in New Zealand earlier in the year.
Player to watch from England: Alex Hales – Immense potential and great strokemaker. If he’s out early, then it’s up to Cook and Bell to rebuild and that might mean the run rate stalls for a little while early in the innings. Hales’ contribution is vital.
Player to watch from India: Virat Kohli – Who else? Finally got some runs under his belt in the tour game vs Middlesex and will be looking to put a horror Test series behind him. He’s back in the format where he has scored 19 centuries at 52.16 in 134 games.
Prediction: India seem to have the stronger team on paper and enjoy the ODI format more than they do Tests. However, what I saw from them in New Zealand as well as their disappointing Asia Cup campaign creates doubts not only in my mind but surely those of Indian supporters. I pick England to win in a tight game as they are more accustomed to the conditions and seem more stable than the Indians at the moment.
