World Champion Eye Revival of Fortune in ODI Series

Chester-le-Street: Battered and bruised in what has turned out to be an abysmal tour, a demoralised India go into the five-match ODI series against England on Saturday with repeated batting collapses and toothless bowling continuing to haunt them.

Coming into the series as world's numero uno Test team and ODI world champions, India have had a nightmarish English summer so far with the visitors tasting victory only in the three practice matches ahead of the limited overs rubber.

After the 0-4 pounding in the Test series, India lost the lone Twenty20 game against England by six wickets at Manchester on Wednesday and things dont look too bright ahead of the ODI series.

And looking at England's ruthless form and India's misery, it would prove to be a Herculean task for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men to get the better of the motivated home team.

England are presently world's number one Test side, which they achieved by virtue of a 4-0 clean sweep over India, and reigning Twenty20 world champions and it is only logical to believe that they would now aim for the pole position in ODI charts as well.

A 5-0 sweep in the ODI series would take England to the number three spot in the ICC rankings behind Australia and Sri Lanka and downgrade India, presently number three, to fifth position.

Besides, the upcoming series would also give England an opportunity to avenge their 1-5 and 0-5 drubbing at the hands of India on two previous visits to the sub-continent.

Besides, it would put Alastair Cook's men in right frame of mind for the return visit to India next month for five more ODIs.

To add to their agony, the Indians were also done in by a spate of injuries to their key players since stepping on English soil.

India will be without the services of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh in the ODI series after they were ruled out due to injuries.

While Zaheer Khan's tour ended before it started, Yuvraj, Sehwag and Harbhajan followed suit with Gambhir being the latest casualty.

But inspite of these injuries, the Indians still have a formidable batting line up with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Dhoni and new entrant Ajinkya Rahane up their ranks.

While Tendulkar would be eagerly waiting to reach his much-anticipated 100th international century, Dravid would like to leave his mark in the final ODI series of his career as he has already announced his retirement from limited overs cricket after the England tour.

But the series would be a test of character for Kohli, Sharma, Raina and Rahane against a potent English attack, which is expected to use the short deliveries now and then to trouble the young guns.

But going into the match, the main concern for Dhoni would be his toothless bowling attack, which has so far failed to extract assistance from the favourable English conditions.

Except for Praveen Kumar, who can pose challenge upfront, and Munaf Patel, who is skillful at the death, the rest of the Indian attack looks ordinary.

Besides, the absence of a proper fifth bowler is a huge worry for India with the likes of Kohli, Raina and Sharma expected to do the job.

But they can be cannon fodders to the likes of Alastair Cook and Ian Bell, who had a double century each in the preceding Tests, and would be back to torment India.

Teams from

England: Alastair Cook (capt), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Ben Stokes, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Vinay Kumar, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Parthiv Patel (wk), Varun Aaron.

Pitch and conditions
A seam-friendly surface, and grey Northern skies are on the agenda. The prospect is for showers, and nippy autumnal temperatures.

Stats and trivia

• India are unbeaten in ODIs against England since 2007, having won 5-0 in their home series in November 2008, and tied their most recent match back in March. However, England took the spoils in the last series in this country four years ago, winning the rubber 4-3 after a seven-wicket win in the decider at Lord's.
• England have won four of their previous eight ODIs at Chester-le-Street, including each of their last three against Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand. Their only previous match at the venue against India, in 2002, was a wash-out.
• Two players remain from that 2002 fixture, and no prizes for guessing which they are. Sachin Tendulkar scored 105 not out and Rahul Dravid (keeping wicket) made 82, before rain prevented a probable India win.

Match facts
Saturday September 3, 2011
Start time 1015 (0915 GMT, 14:45 IST)