India have looked as formidable in the last two one-day internationals as England were in their final three Tests of the Test series, with bowling, batting and fielding coming to the fore together to put the hosts on the mat. Come Tuesday, India will look to wrap up the series when they take on England in the 4th ODI in Edgbaston in Birmingham.
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The 4th ODI match at Edgbaston 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 ODI 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.
There is something about this India side which just wakes up, finds its groove and jumps right back into the "We know exactly what we need to do" zone the moment they shed the whites for the coloured clothes.
Suddenly MS Dhoni is looking like the skipper, we all know he is, again, and the fielding and catching has been excellent, while the batsmen have rediscovered the art of hitting the middle of the bat on ball.
After drubbing England in the 2nd ODI – the first was abandoned due to rain – India were even more dominant if anything in the third one-dayer in Nottingham, going back to their comfort zone of chasing, and doing that to perfection after restricting England to a score of under 230.
India were also aided by the fact that the pitch at Trent Bridge took plenty of spin, immediately bringing the likes of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and even Suresh Raina into play.
"It is a comfortable situation for us," said Ashwin to BCCI's official website about bowling in the middle overs on a turning wicket. "It has been our strength in the last three-four years and we have always operated in that fashion.
"There are situations when the batsmen get going and we don't get wickets and those are really hard times. If we get a wicket or two and put a stranglehold on the batsmen, it is a really comfortable domain for us."
Ashwin was the man of the match after picking up three wickets on Saturday, and the off-spinner will hope for more help from the Edgbaston pitch. Even if the wicket does not aid as much spin, though, India have still looked like the better team, with their faster bowlers showing a lot more potency than they did in the Test matches.
The England batsmen have not quite been able to adapt to the 50-over game yet, with the likes of Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Joe Root struggling for runs and impetus. Cook has got off to a couple of decent starts, but the job of a top order batsman is to make sure you convert that start into a big score, which even Alex Hales, after two 40s in his opening two ODIs, has failed to manage.
England should go into the 4th ODI with a "nothing to lose" attitude and just try and play some free, entertaining cricket – like the way the limited-overs game is meant to be played.
"We still think we can save the series," coach Peter Moores told ECB's official website on Monday. "Obviously, we have had two disappointing games where we haven't played well enough in both games. We know that.
"It's a chance tomorrow to come back and play better. The areas of those middle overs of playing spin are areas we need to improve. The key for the lads is to identify what they need to get better at and how they are going to go about it and then work very hard to get that.
"We have got some good players of spin. In that side, the Bell's, the Morgan's, the Cook's are good players of spin. We have to deliver it in a one-day game."
If the England batsmen play spin anything like they did three days ago, though, then India will win the 4th ODI and with it the series in a canter.
Expected lineups: England: Alastair Cook (capt), Alex Hales, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, James Tredwell, Steven Finn, James Anderson.
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma.
