MATCH: India v England 2nd ODI
DATE: Monday, October 17, 2011
TIME: 1430 hours local (0900 hours GMT)
VENUE: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
A long-awaited, convincing win into the series, India will now look to tighten the screws on England in the second of the five ODIs of the series at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi.
Past Record:
It was a decent comeback from an Indian so pummelled in England that it looked to have gone out of shape. In the first ODI at Hyderabad, barring the bowling of Graeme Swann and the batting of Alastair Cook, none of the others managed to reap any sort of reward. India, off to a slow start on a rather slow pitch bull-dozed their way to a 300 for seven in the 50 overs thanks to the late-hitting from MS Dhoni.
Then, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin ran through the English middle-order as the two balls from either end, turned older – first choking the flow of runs and then frustrating the English into some indiscrete strokes. India won by an easy 126 runs.
Team News:
If the recent record at Delhi is anything to go by, it would be a surprise to have any pitch other than something similar to the one at Hyderabad. And this will mean that the Indian spinners could hunt in packs yet again – Ashwin and Jadeja could be difficult to get away.
What may not be surprising despite captain Dhoni’s obvious penchant to play three pace bowlers is the sight of an extra spinner – although that will have to be a Rahul Sharma, someone who hasn’t played any international cricket.
The Indian batting line-up should remain the same but chances are that Gautam Gambhir could open the innings. Ajinkya Rahane, who has had the experience of batting at three at the domestic level, could be pushed down the order.
England need not panic after just one loss but they need to rethink their strategy on how they will go on to play the slower bowlers. Or rather, how well they need to bat against the quicker bowlers, in order for them to be able to milk the spinners around.
Craig Kieswetter did not have a good match with the bat at the top but he is the one player who has only recently played on the Indian track. If he can come good at the top of the innings, expect him to bat aggressively against the faster men.
On the other hand, Jonathon Trott could do well to come out of his shell; there are occasions when he reminds one of Rahul Dravid in his early ODI days when he seemed to have everything but the big shots, early in the innings.
Players to look out for
Suresh Raina found his mojo along with his captain, as he slammed a 55-ball 61 and could be the one huge thorn in the English fleshes on a track where the ball may not whistle past his ears. England need someone of the capability of Kevin Pietersen to fire against spinners of this variety on such pitches.
Prediction:
India will be favourites to make it 2-0 but more importantly, the team batting first will have a huge plus.
