England take on India at Brisbane, in a match billed as a contest between losers. Both India and England lost badly to Australia, and really, neither team looked anywhere close to putting up a fight. The body language of players from both sides was pathetic, to say the least.
It’s fair to say that the two sides know each other well, too well, in fact, having enjoyed each other’s company for much of last summer. England came on top in the Test series, while India won comfortably in the ODIs. A lot has changed since then.
Captain MS Dhoni has retired from Test cricket, and England captain Alastair Cook has been pushed out of one day cricket. It is clear that both sides have bled over the last few months. But both teams would be more confident about playing each other than they would, had they been playing the home team, Australia.
For England bowling is a real worry, with Jimmy Anderson missing out the last match because of an injury. David Warner mercilessly attacked the other bowlers, proving how critical Anderson is in the English setup.
Here’s what Joe Root says about missing Anderson: “He’s got masses of experience, he’s a big part of the dressing room, and can only strengthen our squad. He’ll swing it. He’s bowled at the death a lot, he’s got a lot of skills, and in these conditions, on this wicket, he’ll be hard to come up against.”
For the Indians, the batting is as much a worry as the bowling, with opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan consistently failing, match after match. Here’s how Captain Dhoni justified his batman’s lack of form:
“I am not sure about the statistics, but I have felt that the openers have been doing a good job. They did well in the Champions Trophy. There will be the odd series here and there where when you are playing the best bowlers in the world in helpful conditions, we will lose the odd wicket. But overall I am quite happy with their performance.”
Clearly, Captain Dhoni has unlimited patience, which he should, given the mediocrity of the side he leads. And it does seem that repeated failure has made him more forgiving and philosophical. But these are not good signs if India has to reclaim the World Cup to be held in February and March.
The only positive in England’s defeat at the hands of Australia was captain Eoin Morgan’s return to form with a brilliant hundred. They badly need Morgan, who is their best batsman, to perform match after match. And they would dearly love to pull one over the old enemy, India.
For England, James Anderson will take Steven Finn’s place in the playing eleven and for India, the same side will be retained, in spite of the poor show put up against Australia, because quite frankly, the replacements are even worse.
Team news
England: 1 Ian Bell, 2 Moeen Ali, 3 James Taylor, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Jos Buttler (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Chris Jordan, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson
India: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 R Ashwin, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Umesh Yadav
Match Conditions
We expect lively conditions at the Gabba in Brisbane. The pitch should offer a plenty of pace and bounce, the outfield looks fast and the rains should keep away. An ideal day’s cricket should follow.
Watch India take on England at Brisbane, Australia, live on Star Sports starting at 8:50 am, on Tuesday, 20th January.
