England aim to get off the mark (Preview)

Five match ODI series has been done and dusted with. And, it is the home side India that have delivered knocking punches to humiliate listless England.

The roles have been reversed in less than a month’s time. It was England, on their home turf that humbled India. In their own backyard, young Indian side-bereft of some senior pros- returned the compliment whitewashing England in what, in the end, turned out to be a lop sided affair.

England were below par with the ball, listless with the bat and indolent in the field. In contrary, the hosts have been on the top of their game in all three departments to get their revenge back.

Now its payback time in a solitary t-20 international to be played at Eden Gardens. India will be keen to keep their slat clean. The visitors, on other hand, would hope to leave India with a much needed victory.

For England, there will be a different man at the helm of affairs for this encounter. With ODI skipper Alistair Cook not part of twenty squad and regular skipper Stuart Broad missing due to an injury, off-spinner Graeme Swann will have another go at England captaincy. Team management would hope change in the guard brings change in their fortunes.

Most of the squad that played in the winless ODI series remains the same but will be joined by young Alex Hales to provide firepower at the top. For England to get off the mark, their batsmen need to find a way to negotiate Indian spinners and score freely in the middle overs. The batsmen have looked all at sea against R Ashwin and co. and bowlers have failed to contain India’s powerhouse batting.

Everything has fallen in order for the MS Dhoni led outfit. India, in this form, look all set to send England back home without a single victory. The hosts are very much favourites to clinch this encounter as well but the game at Eden Gardens could decide the future of couple of players with Indian team.

The spotlight will be on Robin Uthappa, who returns to the side after a gap of three years, and out of reckoning Yusuf Pathan. The explosive duo would want to make this opportunity count.

The crowds in the final ODI at historic Eden Gardens have been disappointing. The popularity of the format in this part of the world should drive people to the venue.

With England having lot to play for, a cracker of a game against very confident India should be on the cards. The home team, though, will enter the match having more aces up their sleeve than their counterparts.

India Squad: MS Dhoni (capt and wk), Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Manoj Tiwary, Rahul Sharma, S Aravind.

England Squad: Graeme Swann (c), Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Jonathan Bairstow, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Tim Bresnan, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen.