India vs England - Official fifth ODI match thread

[Vrock]

The fifth One Day Internation between India and England will take place in Guwahati. With India having already clinched the series all the pressure is off their shoulders. This will allow for the top players to get some much needed rest and allow the chance for some young players to attempt to make their mark.

There are still a couple of issues which the Indian's need to address: Can Virender Sehwag find some form in the last three games? Will they be able to take all the confidence they have gained so far and white wash the English side 7-0?

England are still hanging onto Kevin Pietersen in the search for a decent batting performance, you would not put it passed him top scoring in the remaining three games. Playing for pride is one thing, but selecting the right side to get your somewhere near to that is another. For once England got the correct line up but having failed will Fletcher resort back to bowling the youngsters in the big to gain them experience for the future or will the strongest side be fielded in the hope for being competetive?

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

[Moss]

Place your bets on the whitewash...

I think it will be 6 - 1. It's a typical English thing to do - give it your all when it's the last match and you know you're on your way home the next day.

[Trescothick]

It won't be a whitewash, one of these games a few of our players will hit form simultaneously and we will see a big total to be able to bowl at and we shall win, 5-2

[Teatime FatCat]

Dravid's been given the last two ODI's off. As this is now a lost cause, I don't suppose there's any chance of us resting Freddie is there?

[Vrock]

The point I've been making for ages TTFC, Freddie needs a break. His bowling has been great this series but in honesty he has not been contributing with the bat. Let the youngsters have a go, the series is a lost cause, why not find some young talent and actually give it some cause to play.

[Collyisamackem]

Given that we've lost already and it can't get worse, let's rest Freddie and try this team:

Strauss
Prior+ (I guess Jones will miss the next game)
Bell
Shah
KP
Collingwood*
Plunkett
Blackwell
Batty (he did better than Ali or Mahmood have so far)
Hoggard
Anderson

[Vrock]

Can't argue with the line up other than Solanki oversd Shah, but Collingwood as captain? I think Solanki would be playing and he take the captaincy over from Freddie like he did in the warm up game.

[DomainK]

Well, it might just end up 7-0. I wont like it that way though. England is a much better team than that and honestly I fail to see the reason for this kind of performance from the team. If u point out the absence of the top players, I am afraid thats not the sign of a good team. With so much county cricket, England should have the strongest bench. The selectors should do some hard work to find outs some good talent.

KP has been excellent so far. Flintoff has dissapointed many Indian fans this time, but I think every player has his bad phases(Like Sachin). But then, thats where it stops. Some players have no clue how to play on the sub continet pitches and some others are just not able to get their act together.

I have seen quite a lot of members here arguing over the keeper issue. I remember Taibu's last interview I read he said that he was going to settle down in England and will try to play Cricket it possible. Any chances?

[Crunchy]

Dravid's been given the last two ODI's off. As this is now a lost cause, I don't suppose there's any chance of us resting Freddie is there?

Theres very little chance of that with Fletcher around. In my opinion he has looked tired ever since the Pakistan tour he seems to look exhausted even at the start of matches. And if you look at how his batting and bowling have been over the last year in odi's there is an alarming drop off in quality. But Fletcher will keep grinding him into the ground until he burnsout totally or picks up a serious injury.

It comes to something when you have someone like Gooch calling for Flintoff to be rested. These calls seem to be coming nearly every match from different journalists since during the Pakistan tour.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IES20060407084100&Page=S&Title=Sp orts&Topic=-446

Just to add on how would England fans feel if flintoff wasnt around for the ashes or world cup or was a shadow of his former self, could England somehow cope?. Because in my opinion that's what we maybe should be contemplating because watching him in the Pakistan and India series at times he looks completely shot. And when looking at his record closely there are worrying trends recently.

[Collyisamackem]

Originally Posted by Vrock

Can't argue with the line up other than Solanki oversd Shah, but Collingwood as captain?

Most experienced ODI player in the line-up (89) if Flintoff isn't there, has captained Durham in Hussey's absence before, regular first team starter. Solanki, though I rate him, isn't either the first or latter of those, though I don't know about the second.