India vs England 1st ODI Preview

It seemed only a few days ago India and England were playing against each other in England but now they have a reverse series in India. The pitches will be flat and the spinners will be key, India’s inexperienced bowling line-up for this tour could be a dangerous move as the England batsman have looked very good in England but now on the flat pitches of India it will be easier. Gambhir will return for India which is a massive boost when it comes to batting and he will need to get India on the front foot.

Match Information :

October 14, Hyderabad
Starting Time: 1430 Local Time

How the Teams Stand:

There weren’t too many smiles for India a few weeks ago when they played England in England and got demolished. They are still without key players like Tendulkar, Munaf Patel and Khan and that will continue to haunt them as England will be favourites once again even though the conditions are a lot different to England. With no experienced bowlers other than Praveen and Ashwin India will have to work very hard if they are to pick up wickets on any pitch in India. The batting will be key as they have more of a chance to do better, Gambhir comes back which will boost them but India still have Dhoni, Raina and Kohli who played well for Bangalore in the CLT20. Praveen Kumar will have to lead his bowlers to success as he is the most experienced bowler out of the bowlers and he will have the massive job of getting early wickets against an England line-up that is feared.

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England are in great form and look like the team to beat in International stakes but their record in India wouldn’t please them. With only winning one of their last 13 matches played in India against India it doesn’t look too good but of course India are without their stars for this series. A main concern for England is how they adapt to the weather conditions in India where it is humid and hot while England is cold and overcast. The batsman are missing Morgan but the batting line-up is still world-class with their top four consisting of Cook, Kieswetter, Trott and Pietersen they remain a huge threat to any side. The bowling line-up is not as experienced but their is plenty of young talent coming through and without Broad and Anderson they may struggle when it comes to taking wickets although Swann is more than capable of taking wickets in India. The key for England is wickets and if they manage that they can exploit the Indian bowling attack.

Pitch Report:

It is forcasted for Thunderstorms in Hyderabad but if they do manage play their won’t be too many favours for the bowlers on this pitch.

Team News:

Gambhir has returned from injury and he will open but Rahane and Parthiv Patel have deserved another go and they will be in the lineup somewhere. Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar and Varun Aaron will be fighting for two spots in the bowling attack but this means the Indian bowling is inexperienced.

India (likely) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Parthiv Patel, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ajinkya Rahane, 5 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 R Ashwin, 10, 11 two out of Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron and Vinay Kumar

Bairstow and Bopara have played well of late and they should be in the XI while Samit Patel may be played at 7 as another spinning option for Cook.

England (likely) 1 Alastair Cook (capt.), 2 Craig Kieswetter (wk), 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ravi Bopara, 6 Jonny Bairstow, 7 Samit Patel, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 Jade Dernbach, 11 Steven Finn

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