India vs England, Official Fourth ODI Match Thread

[Vrock]

The Fourth ODI will be played in Cochin. With India leading the series 3-0 after some excellent batting performances from Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, averaging scoring 288 runs between them. Irfan Pathan has again shown why he should continue to open the bowling in ODI's with eight wickets so far at only 13 runs each. And how can we forget Harbhajan Singh who has eight wickets also at 15 runs per scalp. England's performances have not been so good and the only real stand out performer being Kevin Pietersen with 117 runs in two games.

Can England begin their comeback in the series with a win in this game? Or will India continue their good form and take the series with three games still to spare?

Please post any build up comments to the match in this thread please.

[Rob.]

Wow, can't wait

I hope this is a late start because I shan't be making the effort to get up early again to watch what will probably be another debacle.

[Vrock]

Sadly for you Rob it is not, the scheduled start time for people in the UK is 4.30am BST.

[Rob.]

Well, I will miss the 1st innings then. I hope India bat first because I couldn't stand to watch England mope around the field wilting away in the heat miserably again. Although, if India pile on enough misery I don't think I will bother watching the inevitable England collapse in reply either.

Hope Bell gets a game, and this two wicketkeeper farce stops.

[Vrock]

I reckon England should start with this XI:

Straus
Bell - Opened in the last test and looked okay, deserves a shot
Shah - I was calling for his head but there seems no better replacement
KP
Collingwood
Freddie *
GO Jo + - I'd have GO for continuity, looked pretty good in the third game
Blackwell - Played well in the first three games, keep it up!
Either second spinner/Plunker - Plunker looks to be our best bet for the future and can bat
Hoggard - Needs a go and can surely do no worse than Mahmood
Anderson - Bowls well with the new ball but got trashed to the boundary at the end of innings, so would bowl Hoggy and Fred at the death.

[Rachael]

I don't suppose it will happen.. but my morning would be off to a good start if I awoke to find the following XI had been selected:

1. *Solanki
2. +Prior
3. Bell
4. Pietersen
5. Shah
6. Collingwood
7. Blackwell
8. Ali
9. Plunkett
10. Mahmood
11. Anderson

That said... I'd settle for hearing that Batty was going to play in the final few games....

[Collyisamackem]

I'd put the captain back in in place of Mahmood, Ali will get carted and should not play ahead of Hoggy, and Jones out-performed Solanki with the bat in the third game. I don't know why Prior necessarily deserves to be in ahead of Jones either.

I don't understand why Solanki would captain. Collingwood would seem a better prospect to me if you seem to want to rest Flintoff.

All in all I have little optimism about this game, but maybe some freak event like Shah or Blackwell making it past 10 will happen and we'll compete. Not saying anything about winning or not...

[greg]

My team for what it's worth would be

Strauss
Solanki
Bell
Pietersen
Flintoff
Collingwood
Prior
Blackwell
Batty
Hoggard
Anderson

It is obvious we need to play 2 spinners and i think it is time Jones was given a break.His keeping is so hit and miss and Prior deserves a chance to stake a claim for a spot as the keeper in the world cup.Give Bell a chance to become the one day anchor man and maybe we won't need to pick Vaughan in future if it comes off.

[Vrock]

Bell would be a much better anchor than Michael Vaughan ever was, clearly Freddie IMO should be rested when/if England lose the series. But as long as we have a chance to win Freddie will play.

If Mahmood plays he will have to bowl one over spells and then have a break for a few overs.

[Mr Hutt]

I dont think im going to spoil any of my days further by watching this match.. the last one was enough for me.. england should just go home.. they dont feel up to it.. they arent upto it.. and in my opinion nothing is going to change.. sure they have thier back to the wall now and must win.. maybe that will bring out something special but i think the wall will just come down and they will get swept... its dissapointing.. the whole ODI scenerio for Eng