INDIA Vs ENGLAND PREVEIW

INDIA Vs ENGLAND PREVEIW

Match Timing: 2:30 PM IST; 9:00 AM GMT;

Venue: M.CHINNASWAMY STADIUM, BENGALOORU.

Telecast: STAR CRICKET.

The Marquee clash of Group B between India and England gets underway at Bangalore on Sunday. Originally scheduled to be held in Kolkatta, the C.A.B’s  failure means Amil Kumble led K.S.C.A gets to organize the match. This could very well be match that will determine Table leaders. Both the teams have brushed aside the opponents in first match and neither of those could be termed as a crushing win.

India yet again showed how dangerous its batting lineup can be and though there was not a good job by bowlers. But the home pitches and spin assisting tracks could make a difference from here on. England on the other hand was sloppy in the field against the Dutch and was saved by their batting. Now in their second match of World Cup, both the teams will hope that their bowling woes get sorted out.

Venue:

Bangalore is known for its ability to aid everyone be it Pacer or spinner or batsman. The pitch is flat belter and any Score of even 300 plus could be chased. Dew might come in as a factor but not much as in North Indian venues. India will take hearts out from fact that Bangalore has been one of their hunting grounds at home and their last match against the Kiwis was won by Yusuf Pathan’s singleton demonstration of power hitting. England here has a decent record too but when they played hosts here in 2008, they lost it convincingly.

  

Players:

 Yuvraj Singh is one key player who has always enjoyed playing England and this is the best chance for him to find the form missing. But he is carrying a minor niggle and maybe a doubtful starter for the match. Both the teams have a good batting form and ability to handle spinner could be the key. Harbhajan and Swann are among the best spinners today and Swann in particular will enjoy testing himself against Indians, the best players of spin. Broad and Zaheer hold the key in pace department and both the captains will hope their key players come well. Both the sides must improve their ground fielding a lot. Pieterson must sizzle at the top as England misses their key finisher in Morgan. England will look into its batsmen being able to negotiate the Indian spinners and India will hope their bowlers will perform better. Crowd is expected to be a full house backing the hosts and has been highly vocal one.

Key Contests:

Broad Vs Indian Openers and Zaheer Vs England Openers:

            Sturat Broad and Zaheer have been the go to go pacers for their captains and their ability to provide the initial break through and stem the run rate will be crucial. Especially if Broad fails against the Indian openers, England could very well kiss the game a big goodbye. Sehwag and Tendulkar can both kill the contest by 25^th over itself if they find their feet. Zaheer has an uncanny ability to castle to the opposition’s left handed opener and his contest to Strauss will be worth watching.

Swann Vs Indian Batsmen:

            Swann is best spinner of today and is known to be an attacking bowler who tends to take wicket in his first over itself. Indian batsmen, on the other hand are experts in handling spin and their contests with Swann could be crucial. Here lies the key to the contest. Unless Swann finds a way to stem them from scoring, it’s difficult for the Poms to keep the rampant Indians in check. Harbhajan’s game against England too will be critical but more depends on former.

Stats :

            Tendulkar and Collingwoood lead the respective batting tables in Head to Head among the current players and Tendulkar infact heads it overall between the teams too. Yuvraj Singh had been a star performer for India against the English and has 3 centuries against England itself. Infact among the current players, there is just 6 centuries scored and Yuvraj has 3 of them. This is one of the key reasons why India will expect its Southpaw to cone good.           Harbhajan lead the bowling table among the current players and Anderson is the next. Yuvraj has managed to find a place among bowlers too and hence Dhoni will be expecting a lot from him this time.

            History suggests that India has an upper hand in Head to Head clashes slightly and in India, its highly in favor of the hosts. However its 3 all in World Cup encounters though India managed to win the last two matches in World Cup(1999 in England and 2003 in South Africa). Recent visits of England to India has been a shoddy performance by them losing it 5-1 in 2006 and 5-0 in 2008(It could have been 7-0 had not the 26/11 attacks intervened). All said and done, every match is new one and every match begins with scratch as Dhoni says often. India will begin as Favorites but only just. Sunday will give a clear answer. Whatever, this promises to be a cracking contest.

Teams:

India is likely to go with 2 spinners and 2 pacers combination. Sreesanth who was wayward against Bangladesh could miss out to Chawla. Ashwin is more economical bowler but Chawla is a wicket taker and India is likely to play him in the XI. Batting will remain the same especially with Yuvraj’s bowling adding to the Teams strength. However incase Yuvraj who his having a minor injury misses out, Raina slots in directly.

England had a wayward bowling against the Dutch and so could rope in an extra spinner against India on a pitch that will aid turn. By performance Anderson, their Bowling captain in test could miss out to Yardy. Wright may come in for Bopara but former is the better choice.

Likely XI:

INDIA:

1) Sehwag  2) Tendulkar  3) Gambhir  4) Kohli  5) Dhoni  6) Yuvraj  7) Yusuf        8) Harbhajan  9) Chawla  10) Zaheer  11) Munaf

ENGLAND:

1) Strauss  2) Pieterson  3) Trott  4) Bell  5) Collingwood  6) Bopara/Wright           7) Prior  8) Yardy 9) Bresnan  10) Broad  11) Swann.