Preview: India vs England – 1st ODI
First Published : 09 Jan 2013, 16:49
Last Modified : 09 Jan 2013, 16:49
What
The first ODI of the five-match series between India and England
When
January 11, 2013
Where
The Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot will make its international debut with this ODI.
The Teams
To deal with their recent batting woes, India have taken a big step this series. They have pencilled in Cheteshwar Pujara while not including Virender Sehwag in the squad. Given Rohit Sharma’s retention despite a prolonged streak of low scores, it will be interesting to see if the in-form and temperamentally sounder Pujara will get to make his ODI debut on his home ground. If he does play, Pujara would bat at No.3, pushing Virat Kohli to No.4.
Picking up the right bowling attack will be tricky for MS Dhoni due to the combination of Rajkot’s featherbed of a wicket and the new ODI rules. If the Indian captain decides to go with five specialist bowlers, he will face the tough task of deciding which batsmen to leave out. In case he is confident of extracting 10 overs each from Yuvraj Singh and Ravindra Jadeja, Dhoni will only have to choose between Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed as Ishant Sharma’s pace partner.
England have got their ODI tour off to a rough start by losing both their warm-up games – to India A and Delhi. In both games only Ian Bell (91 and 108) emerged with some runs under his belt. Eoin Morgan, who led England from the front in the T20I series before Christmas, got some runs in the second tour match with a half-century. Whether and to what extent the losses to two domestic Indian sides will have a bearing on England’s performance in the ODIs will be interesting to see.
Key Players
MS Dhoni was India’s only saving grace as their batting crumbled at an alarming regularity right through the Pakistan ODI series. The Indian captain managed to score runs in testing conditions, cruel weather and with minor health concerns. He surely will enjoy belting some big hits on a flat Rajkot track, but will also hope that his top order doesn’t give him a chance to do so. If local lad Pujara gets a game and gets going, Dhoni could get some respite.
Alastair Cook gave nightmares to the Indians in the Tests and he will be looking forward to taking on an even more inexperienced Indian ODI bowling attack. Kevin Pietersen will relish the perfect batting conditions just as much as his longstanding competition with Yuvraj Singh.
Trivia
Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, also known as Khandheri Cricket Stadium, will become India’s 41st and world’s 181st ground to host a one-day international. Rajkot will also become ninth Indian city to have more than one ODI ground (it also has Madhav Rao Scindia Cricket Ground). Other Indian cities with more than one grounds are Ahmedabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai, Nagpur, Vadodara and Visakhapatnam.
MS Dhoni is India’s most successful captain against England in ODIs. Out of 16 games under him, India have won 10 and lost only 3. One game was abandoned, while two were tied.
England had last beaten India in India on April 12, 2006 at Jamshedpur. Since then they have played India 13 times, without winning a single game. They lost 12, while one match was tied.
Statistics
Venue Stats: This is the first ever international match to be played at this venue.
Team Stats
Head-to-head:
|
Matches |
Played |
India won |
England won |
No Result |
Tied |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Overall |
81 |
43 |
33 |
3 |
2 |
|
In India |
40 |
26 |
13 |
0 |
1 |
Last meeting between both sides in India:
Brief scores: India (271/8) beat England (176) by 95 runs on October 25, 2011 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Form guide (most recent listed first)
India: Won, Lost, Lost, Won, Won (3 wins, 2 losses)
England: Lost, Won, Won, Lost, NR (2 wins, 2 losses, 1 NR)
The Squads
India: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Ashoke Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shami Ahmed, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja
England: Alastair Cook (capt), Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Stuart Meaker, James Tredwell, Chris Woakes, Samit Patel
