England haven't bowled, fielded or batted well during this series. Other than that, they've been just fine!
Joking aside, I've talked about the batsmen making starts and not kicking on, wasting energy with intimidating tactics and bowling the wrong lengths. To those we can now add the fact they haven't made the most of that second batting powerplay.
The new ICC regulations have brought about a change meaning that now the powerplays can't be taken between the 11th and 15th overs. That means that the fielding captain normally takes the bowling one between the 16th and 20th and that the batting side normally take the batting powerplay between the 36th and 40th overs. The problem is you only really capitalise on the fielding restrictions if a) you have set batsmen at the crease and b) they actually find the gaps and, as a consequence, the boundary rope.
In the third ODI we had Jonathan Trott well set but failing to score quick runs during the powerplay and in the fourth we had what were basically tail-enders at the crease because the likes of Kevin Pietersen forced the issue and got out before the batting powerplay was taken. That's an issue England really need to address.
Another recent change by the ICC was to have a different ball at both ends. I suspect this is going to result in a combination of some very big scores and some pretty modest ones. Let me explain. In places like India where the wickets are generally very good we'll get some big scores because the ball will stay harder for longer and boundaries will be easier to come by. In places like England you'll get much lower scores because the ball will swing for longer and you'll have more incidences of teams actually being bowled out.
Either way, they're both good moves but the same can't be said of the ICC's decision to continue leaving it up to the two teams to decide whether they use the DRS (Decision Review System). We're left with the ridiculous scenario where one series we have it and the next we don't. Where's the consistency in that? And we know already that India will always decide against using it because they simply don't trust Hawkeye to be accurate enough.
What else should we change in cricket? Have less of it. When these two teams clash on Tuesday it will be the fourteenth time in the space of four months they will have played each other across all formats. I love the game as much as anyone and TV money keeps the sport going but it's reaching saturation point and you can't blame the fans for not going to every match or the punters at home for not tuning in.
As regards England, this is meant to be the "team of a generation" but great teams simply don't get beaten 5-0 or at best 4-1. When I toured India in 2001/2 under Nasser Hussain and played against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble all in their prime, we drew the ODI series 3-3. And there was certainly no talk of us being that great a one-day team! This is a rude awakening for England: they're simply not that great away from home. The World Cup disappointment was blamed on an exhausting Ashes tour but there's no excuse this time. The players were fresh and prepared. Or at least they were meant to be.
I'm afraid I can't see anything other than an India win (1.7) in this final match played in Kolkata. They're simply a much better team in these conditions. Jonathan Trott has been criticised yet again for his slow scoring rate but at least he gets runs. Back him to outscore Alastair Cook at around 1.96.
As far as India goes, Gautam Gambhir is due but Virat Kohli has been outstanding and it's hard to look past him once again. Back him to shine again as England count down the days till this miserable tour ends.
2 pts Back India to win @ 1.7
2 pts Back Jonathan Trott -0.5 runs v Alastair Cook @ 1.96
3 pts Back Virat Koli to be Indian top batsman @ 4.8
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