5th ODI: India's last chance to save face

Ending what has been a nightmarish tour positively is not the only motivation for the Indian team to win the final ODI against England as the side would also want to ensure a fitting farewell to veteran Rahul Dravid, who plays his final one-dayer here on Friday.

Dravid, who has amassed 10,820 runs in 343 ODIs at an average of 39, has announced his retirement from one-day cricket after this series and he would be keen to go on a high, more so since the first four games of the series have only yielded 51 runs to him.

The 38-year-old right-hander has scored 12 hundreds and 82 fifties in ODIs and he would want to notch up a big knock on Friday to make his swan song appearance memorable. Apart from this, the match is of academic interest only as England have already won the series. The hosts are leading 2-0 after one match was rained out and another ended in a tie, also due to rain interruptions.

But Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men would be keen to get at least a consolation win on what has been a massively disappointing series. Dhoni has a difficult choice to make on the team selection as he can either look for a win or test the mettle of his reserves.

If a solitary win from a horrendous tour is his motivation, it’s unlikely he would give better performers of the side, men like Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar and even himself a break. If the choice is to view the men for the game, then medium-pacers Varun Aaron and Vinay Kumar and batsmen such as Manoj Tiwary and Subramaniam Badrinath should be on the starting block.

Meanwhile, England captain Alastair Cook is hoping to wrap up a 3-0 series victory.  “The last two games have been very close, and have shown what a talented side India are,” Cook said.  “We’re going to have to play at the top of our game to try to win, and finish the summer on a high.”

Cook, however, is satisfied with England’s form in his first season in charge as skipper of the limited overs side, which also included a 3-2 series win over Sri Lanka. 

Cook also believes England’s one-day squad can improve.  “We are a very young side trying to make progress,” he said. “The exciting thing is I don’t think we’ve played as well as we can,” he said.