India v England Second ODI Tips: Surely even England can bat in Cuttack?

India v England
Sunday 9 February, 08:00
TV: live on TNT Sports

India v England Second ODI team news

India will hope that Virat Kohli is fit to play after missing the win in Nagpur with a knee injury. As a result Yas Jaiswal made his debut and opened with Shubman Gill top-scoring at No 4.

If Kohli is fit, Gill is expected to move back to the opening slot with Kohli coming in at No 3. 

Ravi Jadeja and Harshit Rana took three wickets apiece. Mohammad Shami, who may be going up against Rana for the new-ball role alongside Jasprit Bumrah, took one for 38 off eight. Bumrah returns to the XI for the third and final match of the series.

Possible India XI: Rohit, Gill, Kohli, Shreyas, Axar, Rahul, Hardik, Jadeja, Rana, Kuldeep, Yadav, Shami

England got off to a terrific start in the first match thanks to Phil Salt and Ben Duckett. Then collapsed. Then recovered with Jos Buttler and Jacob Bethell. And, well, you know what comes next.

There was some pretty brainless cricket played, notably from Liam Livingstone who thought a yahoo off Rana was a good idea with the innings in the balance. 

They are limited in options to find a winning combination. Rehan Ahmed could come in but he would most likely replace a batting all-rounder. When Jamie Smith is fit, the hitter may replace Livingstone. Jofra Archer may get a rest with Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson pace options.

England XI: Salt, Duckett, Root, Brook, Buttler, Bethell, Livingstone, Carse, Rashid, Atkinson/Wood, Mahmood

India v England Second ODI pitch report

There have been eight day-night matches at the Barabati with five won by the team batting second. But the run rate is higher in the first innings; 5.6 versus 5.4. The last day-nighter was in 2019 when India chased West Indies' 315 with eight balls to spare. The previous ODI was in 2017 when England came within 15 runs of chasing India's 381. 

It would be fair to reckon that runs are in the offing on a flat one, then. There is no accounting for an England disaster-class and that is, essentially, the gamble. We were on both teams for 250 at 6/52.20 in Nagpur. This time it's 11/102.11. We were two runs short. Maybe they can improve by two this time.  It would be a major underachievement if they didn't as even in the last two miserable years in Asia they average 27 per wicket. On that basis the 3/14.00 for both teams to score 275 isn't a bad shot. 

India v England Second ODI match prediction

England lost half their team to spin in the first ODI for 117 runs. It's not the ratio required for success in India. They didn't solve it in the T20 series. They won't solve it in the ODI. Indeed, it's a long-standing issue which goes back generations.

What they need is a wicket like concrete or glass to negate the home spinners. And although Cuttack could be that surface if the West Indies' tucking into Kuldeep Yadav and Jadeja was anything to go by in 2019, it doesn't scream cheat code for two reasons.

First, that was six years ago., Second, it's not clear as to why the hosts wouldn't ask for a little bit of assistance from the surface to keep their opponent down.

Given that they will be playing all their Champions Trophy in Dubai, India will want to get used to wickets which offer something to the slow men as persistent heavy traffic at that venue is likely to mean run-scoring will get harder.

It feels like an in-play wager if we are to take a risk on England. And that requires waiting for the pitch report. If the pitch has a sheen and the wisdom is that it is flat, the visitors could take a chunk out of their numbers batting first. But we would expect India to get up to 300 in a chase. 

India v England Second ODI player bets

Rohit failed on his return to the India side. We were hoping for at least crease time to get him tuned up for a ground where he notched a half-century last time. At 7/24.50 he probably warrants support for top India bat as he returns at a two-year rate of 32%. It might be easier to buy his performance at 35.5 (just three clicks more expensive than his runs with ten points for a catch in our favour) at 5/61.84. 

Duckett is an option for England at 9/25.50 with a  win rate of 36%. Harry Brook also has an edge at the same price but his win rate is 14 points lower. 

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