Middle order, death bowling worry India

ALL TO PLAY FOR Kohli’s team and England will look to clinch ODI decider and address areas of concern as they build up for World Cup

India drubbed England at Trent Bridge and the hosts returned the favour at Lord’s.

The decider will be about maintaining confidence and sustaining their super runs. Since 2016, England have won 10 straight series, and India nine.

A fascinating battle at Leeds will be between local hero Joe Root and Kuldeep Yadav. For the first time in the series, the chinaman bowler will be under some pressure. He got 3/68 at Lord’s, but wasn’t able to the make the kind of impact he had until then. Root displayed technique and temperament to win a duel with Kuldeep, scoring 113. The Yorkshireman is playing at his home ground. It is 2-1 to Kuldeep though, having got Root’s number at Trent Bridge and Old Trafford (1st T20).

India’s biggest issues are a weak middle order and death bowling in the run up to the World Cup. KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni or Dinesh Karthik are the options. If things don’t fall into place at No 4 and No 5 in this game, they may have to look beyond these players.

As for death bowling, India will hope Bhuvneshwar Kumar reports fit. The sight of their ace pacer bowling full throttle at the nets on Monday would have lifted the mood in the camp.

Assistant coach Sanjay Bangar said middle-order slots are up for grabs and batsmen like Ambati Rayudu, who missed this series after failing the mandatory fitness test, are still in the running. “We did change a bit in the T20 format, where KL batted at 3 and Virat at 4. Looking at this series, and the performances Virat has got at No 3, especially in the last series where he scored three 100s against South Africa (he batted one-drop).

“There are still 16-17 games to go; we’re looking at them wherein we could look at settling the middle-order slots. Things are fluid at the moment. Rayudu is someone who can bat very well in the middle order, but he couldn’t clear the fitness test. I am pretty sure if he passes the fitness test, he could also be a candidate. The good thing is the bench strength we have in Rayudu, Manish Pandey and Rahane.” England have James Vince on standby for Jason Roy, who suffered laceration to his little finger and will undergo fitness test ahead of the game on Tuesday. Sam Billings has also been called up as batting cover.