A new era is set to begin in Indian cricket on Sunday (January 15) with Virat Kohli taking over the reins from Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the 50-over format. The new India captain will hope to get off to a flying start in the one-day international (ODI) series against England at Pune where the two sides will be playing the first game of the three-match series.
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After hammering the English 4-0 in a five-Test series recently, Kohli's men will look to dominate the visitors in the limited-overs series as well. India have always been a strong side at home and will be the favourites in the series. But having said that, England too have some exciting limited-over players in their ranks and can not be taken lightly. Overall, the series promises to be thrilling.
For India, this series is also a sort of preparation for the ICC Championship Trophy scheduled in England in June as they wil not be playing any other 50-over game before the big tournament. It is because of this reason that the team think-tank decided to play some experienced players in this series.
A big attraction of this series will be MS Dhoni himself. It will be interesting to see how one of India's best captains plays under his successor and whether the fans will see him returning to his vintage form. Dhoni has already said that he would be carrying out an important duty from behind the stumps and will give his captain handy inputs. Besides Dhoni, the presence of Yuvraj Singh is also expected to bring in more experience. Yuvraj, who played his last ODI in December 2013, will give the middle-order a solidity besides chipping in with his bowling arm.
The two veterans, Dhoni and Yuvraj, have made captain Kohli optimistic.
"If the top order doesn't fire, you are left with MS alone and he is guiding the youngsters more often than not, which is fine if you have 15-20 games till a big tournament. When you have only three games, you need to make sure the guys who have been picked are in good form," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Kohli as saying.
"That's why I said we brought in Yuvi, to have the best batting combination possible, and Yuvi has had a very good first-class season. This just gives the team much more balance in the middle and lower-middle order with MS and Yuvi."
In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav are expected to spearhead the pace attack. But all eyes will be on the spinning duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who played key roles in India's dominating the Test series versus the English.
However, led by Eoin Morgan, England are a different breed in the ODIs. They have some amazing firepower in the 50-overs format with players like Jason Roy and Alex Hales coming in as openers. India bowlers have not bowled much to the destructive duo and that could be an advantage for the visitors. Kohli's bowlers will have to get rid of Roy and Hales early or else they will be inviting trouble.
Apart from the openers, England also have a solid batting line-up with Moeen Ali batting at number seven. With Jos Buttler, Morgan and Ben Stokes lined up in the middle-order, the India bowlers will need to tighten their line and length as these batsmen could run away with the match in no time. The special talent called Joe Root, who recentlt became father, will also be a key for the England side.
Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali will handle the spin department for England while Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett and David Willey lead as fast bowlers. Though the task of defeating India might be daunting, Morgan will not hesitate to unleash his bowlers into the Indian batsmen.
"The challenge of winning in India is huge but not impossible. There's a fine balance between playing positive cricket and playing smart cricket and we don't want to fall short. We want to fall on the brave side of things as we have done in the last couple of years," BBC quoted Morgan as saying.
Morgan was particularly kind on Root. "He (Root) has been an integral part of our success over the last couple of years and to have him back so soon after the great news that he has become a father, I think is great news for the team," Morgan said.
With both teams possessing some incredible batsmen, run feast is expected at Pune. But that doesn't write off the bowlers in either side.
Where to Watch Live
India vs England first ODI to begin at 1.30pm IST, 8pm GMT, 3am ET. Live Streaming and TV information is below.
India: TV: Star Sports HD1, Star Sports HD3, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3. Live Streaming: Hotstar.
UK: TV: Sky Sports 2. Live Streaming: Watch Sky Sports and Sky Go.
New Zealand: TV: Sky Sport 2. Live Streaming: Sky Go NZ.
Australia: TV: Fox Sports 3. Live Streaming: Foxtel.
Middle East: TV: OSN Sports Cricket. Live Streaming: OSN Cricket Live.
US and Canada: TV: Willow TV. Live Streaming: Willow TV Online.
