Cardiff: With the first ODI between India and England washed out by the English rain in Bristol on Monday, the series has been more about cricket vs. English rain, with the rain winning handsomely. So the this preview starts with the weather forecast. Things look much better at Cardiff, Wales, with the weather department predicting a bright and dry day, with rain forecasted in the evening. So, the second innings may well be affected. The Cardiff pitch is known to be a batsman’s paradise, and so should help batsmen from both sides to recover some of their confidence.
And confidence is in short supply in the Indian team, with Virat Kohli, the main Indian batsman going through an absolute nightmare in the Test series, getting out to James Anderson time and time again. Virat could only manage 134 runs from 10 innings in the series at an average of 13.4. Even his career Test average has come down to below 40 and is currently at its lowest since he made his debut. Clearly, Virat’s confidence is in shreds and a disappointment in the ODI series against England will see it being shattered further. Kohli is already the target of many jokes on the social media – Twitter and Facebook – in India, and even his girlfriend, the Bollywood actress, Anushka Sharma has come in for attack from the public for his poor performance.
Another issue for India is the cold war that has erupted between the cricket board, BCCI and captain MS Dhoni. Dhoni’s job as India’s captain could be on the line and another failure from India could well mean his removal as the cricket team captain, and possibly from the Indian team itself. Dhoni knows that he is on thin ice. With Ravi Shastri, who is known to be very close to the BCCI bosses, as the Indian team director, BCCI has taken over the reins of the Indian effectively from Dhoni and has keep him on a short leash.
England would want to press home the advantage, but there are many English cricket experts who have criticized the ODI team selection as being too conservative. The presence of three highly similar players at the top of the batting order, who score at the same scoring rate, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Gary Ballance has come in for criticism. Both Michael Vaughn, former English captain and Geoffrey Boycott, the legendary English opening batsman have asked for Alastair Cook to be dropped in favour of a more aggressive batsman. But Cook is the favourite of the English cricket establishment, and so his position is safe, nevertheless.
Players to watch out for:
Alex Hales makes his debut for England, while Eoin Morgan, England’s premier ODI player, is back in action. England would once again depend on James Anderson to provide the wickets, while James Buttler will be relied upon for upping the scoring rate in the slog overs.
For India, Ajinkya Rahane is the only batsman in form, but MS Dhoni is considered to be the best limited overs batsman in the world, and so should have his say. Ravindra Jadeja may have failed at Test cricket, but in the shorter format, he is one of the best in the world. Virat Kohli, when on form is really quite good. Umesh Yadav, India’s fastest bowler will certainly play and make his presence felt.
Probable teams:
England: Alastair Cook (capt), Alex Hales, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali/Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, James Anderson, Harry Gurney
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav
