The last time India suffered a heavy Test series defeat at the hands of England, MS Dhoni's men did not quite find their mojo back in the more familiar one-day internationals, with the home side running away with victory in that particular series as well.
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The 1st ODI at the County Ground is scheduled to start at 10.30 am local time (3 pm IST, 5.30 am ET) with live coverage on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3 and Star Sports HD1 in India. The match can also be watched via free live streaming online in India HERE. Live stream the match in the UK HERE or HERE, with TV coverage on Sky Sports 2. Listen to the Test match via BBC Radio 5 Live HERE. The match will be telecast live on ESPN3 in the US, while the action can also be Live streamed HERE.
A sense of déjà vu will be coursing through Dhoni when his team take the field for the 1st ODI in Bristol on Monday. There is a lot more at stake this time around, with the one-day international World Cup looming large, and victory over England on their own home soil will give India that hope and belief that they can do the same in Australia and New Zealand, as well, en route to defending the title they won so famously over three years ago in Mumbai.
Job one for Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher, watched over by Ravi Shastri and the new coaching team, will be to keep that spirit and desire in the squad at the highest level possible following the ridiculously poor 3-1 Test series defeat.
"It hasn't been really easy but relatively easy," said Dhoni when asked about how difficult it was to lift his team up for this ODI series. "Although these boys are hurt by the losses, they also realise the importance of leaving the tough series behind them and looking forward while learning from it.
"I am happy with the players' response in the last few days. We have got on with the job at hand and are looking forward to the ODIs."
India played a practice match against Middlesex on Friday, which they won handsomely to maybe show that when it comes to the limited-overs format of the game, they will be a different cup of tea for England.
For India to put those Test blues behind them, though, they need to learn how to score runs in the UK again, because, after all, one-day cricket is a batsman's game. The likes of Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were extremely poor in the Tests, and the duo, along with one-day specialists like Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu will need to make that willow of theirs do the bulk of the talking.
"A change of format will obviously do them good," said England skipper Alastair Cook, who, after the series victory, turned from villain to hero. "It's not quite the same groundhog day for them, probably.
"We've got to remember they're world champions at 50 overs, so they obviously know what they're doing and will probably go into this as favourites. But if we play well, we're hard to beat in our conditions."
England have never quite convinced consistently in the 50-over format, with their batsmen unable to really take charge from the beginning, while their bowlers, who look lethal in the Test matches, have floundered more often than not with the white ball in their hands.
To address problems in the top order, where Ian Bell and Cook were giving their sides perhaps too slow a start too often, England have made a positive change, with the exciting Alex Hales, who has made the opening slot in T20Is his own, given an opportunity to impress in the 50-over format as well.
"It's nice to know we've got different options, and we'll look at them over the next few months," said Cook, who will partner debutant Hales at the top, with Bell coming in at one-down. "So that when we come to the World Cup, we're very clear on what we think our best side will be."
While victory in the ODI series will not close those still gaping Test match wounds, the least India can do to get a bit of sanity in their and their fans' lives is to make a statement and hand England a handsome defeat, starting with the first one-day international at the County Ground.
Expected lineups: England: Alex Hales, Alastair Cook (capt), Ian Bell, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, James Tredwell, James Anderson, Harry Gurney.
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav.
