Battered Indians look to battle on

Injury-hit visitors will rely heavily on bench strength

The Caribbean sojourn was an ideal opportunity to test the bench strength ahead of more challenging assignments. By default, India have been once again forced to dig deep into their reserves this English summer.

As if to rub salt into their deep wounds, not only were denied India of a potential maiden win on tour in the opening one-dayer, but lost Rohit Sharma for the rest of their campaign after the Mumbai batsman sustained a right-index finger fracture. The youngster’s injury, coupled with Sachin Tendulkar’s exit due to an inflamed big toe, has with India just 13 fit players, rendering them a batsman short as they go into the second one-dayer at the Rose Bowl in Tuesday’s day-nighter.

Rohit’s replacement, Manoj Tiwary, is expected to touch base in London on the morning of the match and his selection, according to team manager Shivlal Yadav, depends on when he reaches the team hotel. The last time Tiwary was rushed into a match following a long flight to Australia, he was bowled by Brett Lee for two and it took more than three years for him to return to the India fold again. Ravindra Jadeja, Gautam Gambhir’s replacement, is yet to procure his visa and the Saurashtra player would only be available from the third match at The Oval.

Injury-ridden India were denied even decent outdoor practice when heavy showers pounded the ground soon after England had finished their three-hour training on Monday morning. With Tendulkar ruled out, India have now lost an eighth member of their World Cup squad and while it’s unlikely anybody would want to be in skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s shoes, it’s an opportunity for the younger brigade to prove its mettle.

Debutant Ajinkya Rahane and Parthiv Patel successfully stepped into the big boots of the regular openers (Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gambhir) with a fearless exhibition of batting in the previous match. Their 82-run stand was the highest opening partnership for India on this tour and only the second 50-plus stand for the opening wicket since the first innings of the Lord’s Test. Rahane missed out on a well-deserved half-century while Parthiv on a maiden international century but both youngsters had more reason to feel delighted than disappointed.

Amidst all this trepidation and inexperience, Rahul Dravid’s presence brings some composure and experience to the battered line-up. The selectors may not have had this premonition, but amidst the daily headache of discussing replacements, they would be relieved that Dravid is still part of the set-up. The expectations on the most experienced batsman in the side will also be manifold given the current injury crisis as would the responsibility on the Indian skipper. Dhoni the stumper may not be as crucial in the shorter version, but the batsman in Dhoni has to express himself if India are to live up to their World champions’ tag. While Virat Kohli’s form has been encouraging, Suresh Raina needs to produce more than boisterous cameos.

Given that they are a batsman light, India will in all probability opt for leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who can more than hold his own with a bat in hand. R Vinay Kumar proved tidy during England’s brief chase in the first ODI and can be expected to form a three-man pace attack with Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel.

England had reason to smile with off-spinner Graeme Swann going through his full drills on Monday, but a final call is still awaited.

Teams (from):

England: Alastair Cook (capt), Craig Kieswetter, Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Ben Stokes, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Munaf Patel, Amit Mishra, RP Singh, Varun Aaron.

Umpires: Billy Doctrove (West Indies) and Rob Bailey (England). Third umpire: Marais Erasmus (South Africa). Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zeland).