After a 3 week hiatus after the Tests and T20I's, England return to India for the ODI portion of the tour. With 5 ODI's being played, both teams will be able to get some reasonable preparation ahead of the Champions Trophy in England this year. India have just come off a short 3 match ODI series against Pakistan losing the series 2-1. Nonetheless after being beaten by 6 wickets and 85 runs in the first 2 ODI's, their win by 10 runs in the 3rd ODI should give them some much needed confidence ahead of this England series.
In regards to both team's overall ODI form, England have had a better run. They have won 8 out of their past 10 matches, with their only losses coming against South Africa at the end of the recent English summer. India on the other hand have won 6 out of their last 10. Between the two sides there have been clean sweeps only in the last few meetings with the home side coming out dominant. India won 5-0 in October 2011 in India, with the same scoreline in November 2008. Meanwhile in English conditions, England won 3-0 in September 2011.
England though have had an indifferent start to this limited overs tour having lost both warm-up matches to India A by 53 runs (D/L) and Delhi by 6 wickets. Ian Bell in particular has played well scoring 91 and 108.
This series should be a cracker as both sides are highly ranked in the ODI Rankings. England are #1 and therefore hold the championship mace, while India are at #3.
The squads:
India (ODI #1 - #3): Dhoni (c), Ashwin, Dinda, Gambhir, Jadeja, Kohli, Kumar, Mishra, Pujara, Rahane, Raina, Shami Ahmed, I.Sharma, R.Sharma, Singh
England: Cook (c), Bell, Bresnan, Briggs, Broad, Buttler, Dernbach, Finn, Kieswetter, Meaker, Morgan, Patel, Pietersen, Root, Tredwell, Woakes
Schedule:
ODI #1 - 11th January @ Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot
ODI #2 - 15th January@ Nehru Stadium, Kochi
ODI #3 - 19th January @ HEC International Cricket Stadium Complex, Ranchi
ODI#4 - 23rd January @ Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala
ODI #5 - 27th January @ Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh
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