Odds favour hosts India as they take on England in Champions Trophy

By Staff
|
Google Oneindia News

Jaipur, Oct 14 (UNI) With the return of Sachin Tendulkar, a resurgent India will hope to end their recent dismal run in the shorter version of the game as they open their campaign against last edition's runners-up England in the ICC Champions Trophy here tomorrow.

Skipper Rahul Dravid along with Coach Greg Chappell scripted impressive victories for India last season but suffered a humiliating 1-4 defeat in the West Indies in May and won just one of their four matches in a triangular series in Kuala Lumpur last month. Team India must now be hoping that the slump would end in this championship.

In the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, nothing seems to be going right for India in recent months despite experiments in the batting order, innovative training methods and inclusion of a sports psychologist.

And now India's reputation is at stake against Andrew Flintoff's England because an unimpressive show at home will not be considered good for their preparations in the run up to the next year's world Cup.

India is always a tough side to beat at their home turf as they have not lost a one-day series in more than a year. They beat Sri Lanka 6-1, England 5-1 and drew 2-2 with South Africa.

India hopes free-stroking batsman Virender Sehwag and left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan to regain form. Sehwag has contributed just 28 in his last four matches, while Pathan looked below his best in recent matches.

Wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has gone eight innings without scoring a fifty. However, the big-hitting Dhoni returns to a ground where he smashed a match-winning 183 not out against Sri Lanka in October last year, the highest one-day score by a wicket-keeper.

However, a cheering news is batting star Sachin Tendulkar's triumphant return to international cricket after a long lay-off due to a shoulder injury. He has already hit a hundred and a half-century at Kuala Lumpur.

Sehwag could return to open the batting after criticism of skipper Rahul Dravid for promoting himself up the order in a failed experiment.

Meanwhile, England will be looking for a good start in this tournament. They also don't have a good record to show recenlty having won only five of the last 20 one-dayers.

Skipper Andrew Flintoff returns after ankle surgery with one eye on the Ashes series starting in Australia on November 23 and hoping to atone for a 5-1 one-day series rout in India in April.

The inspirational all-rounder may only bat after announcing he would not bowl in the early stages of the event to avoid breaking down.

The 28-year-old could open the batting with his deputy Andrew Strauss to accelerate scoring in the initial overs when teams look to exploit fielding restrictions.

MORE UNI HSB PDS BS1352

For Daily Alerts
Get Instant News Updates
Enable
x
Notification Settings X
Time Settings
Done
Clear Notification X
Do you want to clear all the notifications from your inbox?
Settings X
X