India v England ODI Series 2013

After victory in the Test Series and a draw in the Twenty20 series out in India at the back end of 2012, England’s cricketers are back to battle India again in a five match ODI series. While the English have been making some great progress with their historic Test series win, their recent ODI history in India makes for some miserable reading for English fans. Freddie Flintoff helped inspire England to a 3-3 draw in 2001-02 on the sub-continent and that was hailed as something as a success. In hindsight it really was.
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In 2008 and in 2011 England contested ODI series in India and on both occasions were whitewashed 5-0 by the hosts. Is that likely to happen again? At good value it may just be worth looking at for a long shot in your Cricket Betting, but the likelihood is that the series will be a lot closer. England opened with a heavy defeat against India A as a warm up for the India v England ODI series, while India themselves have accrued more pressure on themselves following the Test Series defeat against England.

India recently lost a ODI series against their rivals Pakistan, not showing any kind of form whatsoever. The performances have prompted selectors to drop experienced batsman Virender Sehwag and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has managed to just hold on to his place despite calls for him to get the chop as well. So this should be a fascinating series, but England will write India off at their peril, as the Indians will be desperately wanting to put some pride back into their game. As proven in the last two series against England, they are capable of embarrassing England in a big way, especially if England are complacent. So while another whitewash of England may be a distant dream, they could have enough to edge a tight series on home soil, making a 3-2 series win for the hosts a popular option.

While the Indian game has come under attack, England’s shot selection in their defeat against India A could be a worrying sign for the tourists, even though captain Alastair Cook did not play. England are missing three key bowlers for the series too, with spinner Graeme Swann and seamers Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson all missing out on action. The loss of spin from Swann could be a big factor. So it is a very green England bowling attack that will lead the line in the one day international series, and with conditions in the sub-continent always difficult for tourists to play in, this could be a tight series.