Four things India can learn from their previous overseas ODI experiences

When the last time India played anone -day gameagainst England, it washappier daysforTeam India winning the ICC Champions Trophy in England. Times have changed since, and how!The pitches are fast compared to the slow pitches during the Champions Trophy, with the Indian batsmen short on confidence and Indian bowlers all over the place. With India all set to play five one-dayers and one T20 against England after they lost the Test match series 3-1, there are certain signs that India might not do as well as expected of them in the 50-over format. Though India would be happier to play one-dayers rather than the five-day gamein the current situation it finds itself in, it would be interesting to see if India can come out positively after their demoralising defeat in Tests.Can Indiastop order resurrect their technique against swinging deliveries, or will they succumb to James Andersons deliveries outside thestump again?Can Indiasfast bowlers find the right line and length to pick up English wickets? A peak into their recent ODI outings against New Zealand and South Africa suggest they havent done well in the shorter format of the game too.Is it the sign of things to come or its just a thing of the past where Indiastop order had a poor run of form?With Virat Kohli scoring 81 against Middlesex, heis believed to be back in form andthe men in blue might play better in coloured uniforms.India would be hoping they can win the ODI series to cover up for their debacle in Tests. But this would seem rather tough for the visitors.Inrecent times, Indias ODI performance outside the subcontinent have been very close to being awful, except for the Champions Trophy win in England and the tri-series triumph in West Indies last year.Since the last World Cup, India have won only eight and lost 13 of their ODIs in England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Here are four things India could learn from their previous ODI series overseas.

#1 The opening partnership

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma will be the opening pair for the ODI series against England. It would be important for the openers to lay a good solid foundation right at the top.

If we look at India’s previous outing in the one-day format outside India, the stats cut a very sorry figure. Both the openers have a failed miserably and haven’t provided the initial momentum that is required from an opening pair. Dhawan scores in the last three Test matches have been 12, 29, 7, 31, 6, 37 and Rohit Sharma played just one match at Southampton where he scored 28 and 6 respectively in both innings.

More importantly, as both the players had a poor run of form in the recent Test series, these 5 ODI series will be important for both players keeping next year’s World Cup in mind.

Let's look at previous scores of both Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma during the South Africa and New Zealand series. India played 3 ODIs against South Africa in 2013 and 5 ODIs against New Zealand in 2014, which indicates the openers haven’t done well in the previous one-day series and have a point to prove in the upcoming ODI series against England.

PlayersScores in South AfricaScores in New Zealand
Shikar Dhawan

12,0

32,12,28,9
Rohit Sharma18, 19,3,20,39,79,4

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#2 Ajinkya Rahane at number 4

If we look at the recent ODI series overseas, only Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have been able to score runs when the entire batting line-up has perished.

The opening pair with Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit is sorted and Virat Kohli at No. 3 is the most viable option. Ajinkya Rahane would be the ideal number 4 batsman, for the clear reason that he is one of the most technically correct batsmen in the team. He also has the ability to play the long innings and his century at Lord’s indicated that he can hold up one end and play alongside the tail.

With Dhoni and Raina coming after him, it would mean they would have a platform where they can score runs quickly at the end overs.

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#3 Suresh Raina at number 6

Suresh Raina is one of the most valuable players in ODIs for India. He brings in extra energy into the team with his fielding brilliance. But more of his batting heroics have come on Asian pitches and in overseas conditions his technique has come under scrutiny, especially unable to play the short ball. His defence is poor and lack of runs away from home hasn’t helped him much either.

Raina had a poor series in South Africa and New Zealand and it’s time for Raina to remove the monkey off his back in overseas conditions.

He would be under pressure as he was dropped after the New Zealand tour, but was made captain for the Bangladesh tour for the reason that all the senior players were rested and here he is now. Raina would need to score runs at No. 6 in this ODI series to prove his place in the lower middle order as his bowling becomes ineffective in these conditions.

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#4 Indias bowling combination

Indian bowlers weren’t at their best in both the South Africa and New Zealand series. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Ishant were good at certain parts but weren’t consistent enough to make an impact on both the tours.

It would be interesting to see how Dhoni uses his bowling combination. With Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami expected to lead the attack, Dhoni would have to pick between Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma and Dhawal Kulkarni.

On the South African tour, Bhuvneshwar and Mohit Sharma were the lead bowlers and were all over the place, with South Africa winning all three ODI. South African opener Quinton de Kock was in supreme form where he scored three back-to-back centuries against the Indian attack.

Later on the next tour on New Zealand India went back to Ishant, Bhuvaneshwar and Mohammed Shami and in between Varun Aaron played an odd game here and there.

Bhuvneshwar has to find his swing right and Shami would have to put the ball in the right places without losing his line and going down, the prime reason for him being ineffective in Tests against England.

In the ODI series against England, we will have to wait and see if Dhoni goes in with two spinners in the five bowlers plan, or plays Stuart Binny as the 5th bowling option.

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Edited by Staff Editor