After successful run-chase, Kohli & Co will go all out against England, who are searching for 1st international win on tour
That only three India players – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane – turned up for India nets on the match eve as the teams landed in Cuttack on Wednesday afternoon from Pune spoke the positive mindspace that Virat Kohli and his team ahead of the second ODI.
All the preparations were done at the venue where India took a 1-0 lead, completing one of the greatest run-chases in ODIs on Sunday night.
On the other hand, a full-strength England team turned up for training at the Barabati Stadium in front of thousands of local fans. Any amount of preparation may still not be enough against the attacking Indians as Eoin Morgan and his team found out four nights ago.
Kohli and Co. will aim at clinching the series here on Thursday while England team will certainly feel a bit deflated after failing to defend a total of 350 having got four top-order batsmen back in the hut for just 63.
Add to that, India has had a good record at the Barabati Stadium, where they have won 11 out of their 15 ODI games.
While the Indian bowling was taken to task by the England batsmen on a Pune belter, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh’s failure with the bat was the only blot in their victory. Dhoni, who had at the start of the month stepped down from captaincy, has devotedly taken part in India’s every net session since the team got together in Pune on January 11, including the optional ones.
Dhoni will be keen to get back to his run-scoring ways as does Delhi left-handed opener Shikhar Dhawan, what with Ajinkya Rahane breathing down his neck after his 83-ball 91 at the top of the order in the second warm-up game.
The onus will be on Dhawan to return to his best, while all eyes would also be on the experienced Yuvraj, who is six matches shy of his 300th ODI appearance.
One cannot blame the bowlers, for they may have looked ordinary on the flat batting beauties. Hardik Pandya, in the first Power Play and Ravindra in the middle-overs, looked the best of the lot but R Ashwin will be expected to put up an improved show even on such flat tracks. England would need something extraordinary to recover from the body blows as they have to win the remaining two matches which would requite quite a feat.
Back to lead the side after pulling out from the Bangladesh series, English limited overs skipper Morgan will be under pressure to transform their bowling unit which performed abysmally in Pune. The English bowling is still struggling to find a way to stop Kohli, something that will hurt the visitors who were swept 0-4 in the five-match Test series and now their hope to recover in the limited overs is too going away fast.
As for the venue, Barabati Stadium hosted its last ODI more than two years ago when India put up a record 363/5 here en route to thrashing Sri Lanka by 169 runs on November 2, 2014 to set the tone for a 5-0 clean sweep.
However India last played here on October 5, 2015 in a Twenty20 International that they lost by six wickets after being skittled out for 92. The Cuttack crowd became furious at India’s abject batting surrender and hurled missiles on the field as the play was held up.
(With PTI inputs)
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