With an unassailable lead in the series, Team India will be looking to clinch the ODI series under the noses of England and Alistair Cook as the two sides clash on in the fourth cricket one-dayer on Tuesday.
With an unassailable lead in the series, Team India will be looking to clinch the ODI series under the noses of England and Alistair Cook as the two sides clash on in the fourth cricket one-dayer on Tuesday.
The visitors lead 2-0 in the series wins in Cardiff and Nottingham in the second and third ODIs but anything is possible as Cook rallies his men to correct the mistakes.
With the number one rankings at helm for India, Dhoni’s merry men will look to salvage some pride at Edgbaston after a poor tour so far. The Men In Blue have been the dominant side so far with the hosts appearing to be a completely different side that takes the field in the Test arena.
England have been marred with a lot of problems. Right from the captaincy to the bowling and batting, the Poms are under severe pressure from all rounds. The likes of Ian Botham, Geoff Boycott, Graeme Swann and Michael Vaughan haven’t helped Cook’s cause and with the 2015 World Cup around the corner, England have a mountain to climb.
Cook’s captaincy has been the key discussing point for the critics highlighting the killer instinct within the team.
If statistics are to go by, England’s last ODI win came in 2013 against New Zealand but eventually lost the series. Since then they have beaten West Indies (earlier in 2014) and won one-off matches against Ireland and Scotland. A consecutive series loss to Australia and Sri Lanka has hampered their 50-over cricket campaign and it seems, coach Peter Moores has a tough task ahead.
On the other hand, Team India has done well so far. Despite the losses in South Africa and New Zealand, MS Dhoni seems to have found the right formula going into the World Cup next year. Though Kohli’s poor run-of-form has been overshadowed by the Indian success on England shores, India still needs a recheck on it’s death bowling.
On the batting front, with Rohit Sharma out with injury and Shikhar Dhawan struggling for form, Dhoni and Shastri have to sort out the opening slot issue. Dhawan’s form has been a worry with the scores of 12, 0, 32, 12 28, 9, 11 and 16 making a sorry reading for the southpaw. He is a shadow of the batsman he was in the Champions Trophy last year.
Meanwhile, Murali Vijay has joined the team as Rohit’s replacement and it becomes an interesting selection headache for the team management. Will he or won’t he might be an interesting call from Dhoni.
