England should expect no mercy from India

Dhoni is hungry and England are on the mat. If I would have been him, I would have gone all out to complete a whitewash. It would give you such a high after a near disastrous Test series against the same opponent. 

England are likely to have the same lineup. The problem is not the lineup but the application. England as I said in my last blog must bat well in the middle overs to be able to give themselves any chance in the death overs. Their batting is the key to the result. If they bat well (which they should, after all the failings and flak, and a flat pitch expected at Headingly with little or no cloud cover) I predict this could be a high scoring game. The onus shall be on the middle overs again. Bell is out due to injury, so a lot of responsibility rests with Ballance, Root and Morgan. The trio will have to show some gumption and ensure that the likes of Jadeja, Ashwin & co. do not force a similar result again. 

Again, England have a matchwinner at the top, and their woes is partly because he has unexpectedly not fired. He has an aggregate of 88 runs from 3 outings with an unimpressive average of under 30. A couple of 40+ scores in this series is lot less than what was expected from him. Once he is set, he needs to be around and push the accelerator. Something that England would like him to do, so that there is less pressure on the struggling middle order. The teams are staring at a flat pitch this time, and it is the time for Hales to come to the party. I expect England to perform much better than they have fared till now in the series.

Dhoni is not known to tinker with his winning XI, even for dead rubbers like this. But the sudden rise in faith of Rahane's suitability at the top means there is a void to be filled up in the middle overs. And you have a young 19 year old Sanju Samson to try out. It would be a good game to give him his debut and valuable international exposure. The lad has a first class average of 43+ and has 4 centuries to his name already. It will be a waste if he ends up not playing. With so much cricket to be played in the near future including the World Cup, it would be a good idea to blood youngsters. Rohit Sharma should be able to come back into the middle order, but he has been an inconsistent bloke. In the bowling Karn Sharma could get a game after a noteworthy performance in the practice game in England. He has an outside chance to play if Ashwin is rested. I do not expect Umesh Yadav to get a game though.

Dead Rubber it is, but expect plenty of boundaries and a run feast !! Sit back and enjoy.