Ind Eng ODI 4 Preview: India Cannot Afford to Lose; England Have Whitewash on Mind

India have only a day between matches before recovering from yet another missed opportunity to register a win on the tour of England to trying to now save the series with the fourth India England ODI upon them. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Indian captain, though is relying on the young team untainted by painful memories.

Suresh Raina

The Indian captain must be wondering if a win will even come on this tour. But he is also quietly cherishing the fact that the present Indian ODI team in England is a raw, young team whose members have all not been exposed to the deflating Test series that saw England by a 4-0 whitewash. In that the young team is raring to show off their skills, and compete in every match with the hunger perhaps more visible than some of the members of the old guard.

Ravindra Jadeja showed some inspired work in the third ODI although the match eventually went the way of England once more. That some of the younger members are holding promise is what the Indian dressing room can exploit out of the situation they find themselves in wherein there is virtually a dearth of experienced line up to dent England at the moment.

The downside in Dhoni’s situation is that apart from himself and Rahul Dravid, there really is not much by way of experience to combat the conditions or the competition because England have been building their confidence around their success and while they have a series win to look forward, India have the tough perspective of trying to win the match to stay alive in the series.

For the hosts, the formula could not have worked any better. Alastair Cook, the England ODI captain, is leading from the front and his team comprising some of the established members, some making a comeback and some new faces is working rather well in England’s favour because England are finding the people who will get them over the edge.

While Dhoni has been calling for a greater effort from the Indian bowlers who have looked woeful, the perilous batting story from the third ODI will also need to dramatically change knowing how tight India could have made it for England had they been twenty runs richer from the last experience. There is not a lot of time with which to work which means that basically all that Duncan Fletcher, the Indian coach, and Dhoni can do is demand greater responsibility from the younger members of the squad and ask them to use the opportunity to serve them well by applying the basics.

Given that there is little pressure on the Indian cricket team at the present – they have sunk the expectations of the people back home, it should actually work in their favour because not too many people are expecting miracles from the team that Dhoni is leading at the moment. This could be the taste of things to come in terms of what will be required from the future generation of Indian cricketers who want to compete at this level.

On that tangent, it was a little baffling that India have not gone all out on the experimentation aspect and that has to be of concern because the likes of Varun Aaron have been allowed to cool in conditions that he should ideally be summing up for future summits if not present glory. One can understand the skipper’s perspective to not rock the boat too much, but in a situation where Indian cricket can take lessons for the future, the risk taking gambling nature of Dhoni is perhaps missing.