England Cricket / Ed Hawkins / 06 October 2011 /

England could get a taste of their own medicine in the five-match one-day series which begins in Hyderabad on Friday, says Ed Hawkins

India v England
Five-match ODI series
Channel: live on Sky Sports in the UK
Series odds: India [1.84], England [2.28], draw [22.00]

There is no more daunting prospect for a foreign cricketer than a tour to India. If it is not the heat, it is the humidity. And if it is not the odd case of Delhi belly it is the stomach churning realisation that a bowler's skills are just not used to flat, hard pitches.

England, led by Alastair Cook, may well have dominated India during the summer, denying their visitors even a solitary win in four Tests and three one-day internationals but they could be about to get a taste of their own medicine.

For all the admirable preparation work that Andy Flower, the coach, and his team put in - exhaustive stats for players, the opposition, historic trends and grounds - no spread sheet can help with the baptism of fire that is an India ODI tour. This is an inexperienced England squad and they are going to have to learn quickly indeed.

The [1.84] about India winning the series is a mighty fine price. Lest we forget that they are world champions and they boast a formidable record in home two-team series. Only a wise Australia (in 2009 and 2007) outfit have managed to beat them on home turf, a sequence which includes 13 series.

As for England's record there, it makes for glum reading if you are hoping for an even contest. They were hammered 5-0 back in 2008 and suffered a 5-1 reverse in 2006. A 5-0 whitewash for India is as big as [10.00] on the correct score market.

However, it would be reasonable to assume that England are capable of pinching a rubber here or there, particularly with each of the five games taking place under lights.

Make no mistake that England, who welcome back Kevin Pietersen, despite his poor record in this format, are as green as a naive tourist who has frequented a street hawker. Six of the 17-man squad are on their first tour and there is no James Anderson, who would have been a reassuring sight for punters.

Instead it will be left to Dernbach, who has only 10 ODIs to his name, to lead an attack which could include Stuart Meaker, yet to make his debut, Chris Woakes, who has four caps, and Steven Finn, whose style could be meat and drink to India batsmen. The admirable Tim Bresnan is at least one unwelcome sight for the man at the other end.

It is probable that England could find themselves in a world of trouble in the powerplay overs with such a youthful line-up. India welcome back Gautam Gambhir, the aggressive opener, for the first two ODIs at least and there is a small chance he could be joined by a fit-again Virender Sehwag at the top of the order at the death of the series.

There are plenty of fresh faces in the India side, too but they have a strong spine with MS Dhoni, the leader, Praveen Kumar taking the wickets and Gambir, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina scoring the runs.

We will have to wait to see Sachin Tendulkar and whether he can score the eagerly-anticipated 100th hundred. He is still struggling with a toe injury but it would be a foolish man to write him off appearing in the series, particularly with a game in his home city of Mumbai scheduled for October 23. What price the ton coming in that game?

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India to win ODI series at [1.84]

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