Wounded India look for fresh start (Preview)

For India, the tour to England has turned out to be a wretched one thus far. The tourists have been thoroughly outplayed, humiliated, whitewashed and dented in a lop-sided contest in the four match test series. Dethroned from the top slot in ICC’s test raking, India couldn’t match ruthless England and hardly put up any fight. In nutshell, it has been England all the way.

The test series is done and dusted though. For India to make an impact in limited overs’ leg of the tour, a sorry performance in the longest format of the game need to be wiped out of their minds. A solitary twenty-20 game at Old Trafford will precede five match ODI series.

After being bullied in test cricket, India would feel they hold an edge over England in twenty-20 cricket. All this because of amount of shortest format of game they play with IPL among their top priorities. MS Dhoni’s men will be keen to put behind them the poor show in test cricket and make amends in shorter formats.The return of young guns in the squad augurs well for the tourists for youngsters wouldn’t be fazed by 4-0 drubbing. They weren’t part of the test squad and bring freshness to the set up. The likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma not only bring excitement and bundles of talent to the battling unit, the duo and a couple of other fresh legs add fizz to the fielding.

In all likelihood experienced opener Gautam Gambhir, yet to recover from head injury he received while fielding in final test, is going to miss the Wednesday fixture. Mumbai’s new batting sensation Ajinkye Rahane should make his t-20 debut for India. Reserve wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel’s good run on Caribbean tour would mean he continues to be India’s opener in Virendar Sehwag and Gambhir’s absence.

There is enough of talent and potential in the middle order with Kohli, Sharma, Suresh Raina and Dhoni himself very much capable of winning a t-20 game on their own. Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar should complete the fast bowling unit with offie R Ashwin playing as a lead spinner. India will be upbeat to make a statement and lead up to the game has seen them winning all three tour games.

The home, on other hand, will cock-a-hoop after their triumph in test series that saw them to go on top of the pile. The world champions in t-20 cricket are yet to set world on fire when it comes to the limited format of the game. A t-20 world cup trophy is only bright thing one can write home about. Their board ECB and team management led by coach Andy Flower is keen to bring home the glory. In their pursuit, some changes have been made post 50-over world cup debacle: Alistair Cook has been given reigns of One-day side and Stuart Broad leads the t-20 side.

Broad’s captaincy debut wasn’t sweet as Sri Lanka defeated them hands down in one off t-20 international early this summer. The lanky paceman would be ever so keen to set the record straight and script his first victory as English captain. He has got the arsenal and men to help him in that.

A good combination of young talent and experienced guys is what the home team will field in at Old Trafford. In batting Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan add to the experience and likes of Jos Buttler and Alex Hales lend excitement and effervescence. Broad leads the bowling pack with Tim Bresnan, Jade Dernbach and off-spinner Graeme Swann completing the lineup.

With both sides boasting of some excited players, the result of the game could well be decided by how teams cope up with the pressure.

England squad: Stuart Broad (capt), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Alex Hales, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Ben Stokes, Graeme Swann

Indian Squad: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Ajinkye Rahane, Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Parthiv Patel (wk), Amit Mishra, R Ashwin, Varun Aaron, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Vinay Kumar