A beleaguered India will go into the do-or-die fifth game here on Syunday, still struggling to find a combination that can deliver the goods.
LEEDS: Faced with a daunting task of winning three matches in a row to clinch the one-day cricket series against England, a beleaguered India will go into the do-or-die fifth game here on Sunday, still struggling to find a combination that can deliver the goods.
The Indians allowed the hosts to escape to a three wicket victory at Manchester to find themselves trailing 1-3 in the seven-match series and realise that any further slip-up will cost them the series.
The frustration of losing the last match, particularly after having England on the mat at 114 for 7, must be weighing on the minds of the Indians but they have to go into the day game with a positive attitude.
Indian skipper Rahul Dravid asserted that his team was still capable of turning on the heat in the remaining games.
"It's tough, but I think when we reach Headingley we'll be pretty keen," he said.
"We know in the back of our minds that we could have won that game - the series could easily have been so different. We knew we had the upper hand and only needed that one wicket," Dravid said.
There is little doubt that India needs to lift their game by a few notches after putting up a disastrous performance in all games except, of course, in the second one-dayer at Bristol where the batting came good and posted 329 for 7 in 50 overs.
The bowling continues to be a concern, since India have not been able to bowl out England even once in the entire one-day series. They have also given the hosts chances to score in excess of 280 in the first three games.
Besides the bowling concerns, India's fielding is a big headache and it continues to embarrass Dravid. "Our fielding is an area that does hurt us, especially in these type of low-scoring games.
"We had seven guys inside the ring to stop the single and still the opposition manages to get singles."
Now India will have to start afresh and they need to show a lot of character and self-belief.
In the batting department, India also need to make a serious rethinking and redraw their plan while sending the willowers in.
Dinesh Kaarthick hasn't really impressed at number three which might prompt Dravid to go back to his usual No.3 spot. The team might even fancy trying Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Robin Uthappa, if he gets a look in.
The injury concern of Zaheer Khan is another worry for the Indian team. But, on the eve of the game, the left-arm pacer remained optimistic of being fit for the crucial game.
Ajit Agarkar bowled with a vengeance to pick up four wickets in the last match. So he would be keen to continue in the same fashion here.
Spinners Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla too have been impressive and will come handy.
On the other hand, Paul Collingwood's young England side has gone from strength to strength in the series and is oozing confidence. What is more heartening for the hosts is that, after having won two games comfortably, they bagged the previous game from a no-hope situation with their young guns coming to the party.
Collingwood, however, looks in no mood to take things for granted.
"At 3-1 up in the series it's a nice position to be in," said Collingwood.
"But, as a team, we are going to start fresh in the last three games. We did well to come out of the hiccup. We are going to be really ruthless in the remaining games and hopefully play our best cricket from now on," he added.
England's batting looks good while their bowling has been penetrative. The return of Andrew Flintoff has also been a big boost and his presence lifted their bowling. Given his prowess with the bat, the allrounder is also due for a major knock.
Overall, England has more depth. And their fielding gives their bowling a cutting edge.
The teams (from):
India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Kaarthick, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, S Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa, Munaf Patel and Rohit Sharma.
England: Paul Collingwood (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravinder Bopara, Chris Broad, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Dimitry Mascarenhas, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom and Chris Tremlett.
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