Kohli's India aim to maintain winning streak
ESPNcricinfo previews the third ODI between India and England in Kolkata
The Preview by Alan Gardner
21-Jan-2017
Match facts
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Start time 1330 local (0800 GMT)
Start time 1330 local (0800 GMT)
Big picture
In the end, the British invasion never quite occurred. England came, they soared, they were conquered. India don't need to take any lessons from Eoin Morgan's young bucks, certainly in their own conditions, and were more clinical in the first two matches to seal the series with one to play.
The final match in Kolkata will be India's last ODI before the Champions Trophy. Nos. 3-6 in the batting order all have centuries in this series but a couple of scores for the openers would help Virat Kohli firm up plans for his first title tilt as captain. They have won chasing and defending, though England pushed them hard both times. Kohli will ask for more of the same as he looks to extend his mastery over England captains to 7-0 on tour.
Morgan has twice said that England have not played at their best, which says something about how expectation levels have risen. Scores of 350 for 7 and 366 for 8 will win plenty of 50-over matches but England's bowling has buckled too easily under India's onslaught. England have not lost a series by a margin of more than one match since the World Cup and Morgan will want to keep it that way.
Form guide
India WWWLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
England LLWLW
England LLWLW
In the spotlight
KL Rahul is embarking on one of the most difficult journeys in the modern game: attempting to become a three-format international opener. His talent is abundantly clear, given he has already made Test, ODI and T20 hundreds for India (the latter batting at No. 4), but his two innings in the series so far have failed to reach double-figures. Rohit Sharma might be favoured to return for the Champions Trophy after injury but Rahul would prefer to make the selectors' decision a little trickier.
The focus is starkly on England's bowlers, after twice conceding 350-plus totals and twice seeing the opposition recover from losing early wickets by raising a double-century partnership. David Willey picked up both India openers in Pune but he has been wicketless in five of his last six ODIs and last bowled a full allocation of ten overs against Sri Lanka in June. His left-arm swing is perhaps a more valuable commodity in home conditions but England need to work out how to best utilise him.
Team news
Reports said Shikhar Dhawan went to a hospital after landing in Kolkata on Friday to get his left thumb checked. There were no injury concerns though and he was the first to bat in the nets on Saturday. His form could be a worry, however, and Ajinkya Rahane may get a look in if India want to change the opening combination. Manish Pandey will be itching to get game time, too, but a packed middle order will not let him through easily.
India: (probable) 1 KL Rahul, 2 Shikhar Dhawan/Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 MS Dhoni (wk), 6 Kedar Jadhav, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 R Ashwin, 10 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Sam Billings is likely to open, as he did in his previous appearance in Bangladesh, due to Alex Hales' forced exclusion. Adil Rashid did not bowl much in the nets and looks like missing consecutive white-ball internationals for the first time since his return in 2015, if England persist with four quicks.
England: (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Sam Billings, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Liam Plunkett, 10 David Willey, 11 Jake Ball
Pitch and conditions
The last ODI at Eden Gardens witnessed Rohit Sharma's record 264. This time, though, it could be the only hope for pace bowlers to get purchase in this series. The Ranji season saw teams shot out for 59, 81, 90 and several sub-200 scores. On Saturday, the pitch wore a greener look than the one in Cuttack and bowlers will hope they are not plundered for over 700 runs again.
Stats and trivia
- England have played three one-day internationals at Eden Gardens and lost them all. Their last visit, for the World T20 final, also ended in defeat.
- In Cuttack, MS Dhoni became the fifth batsman to score 9000 ODI runs for India (he also has 174 for the Asia XI).
- Yuvraj Singh went almost six years between his 13th and 14th tons - his previous hundred came at the 2011 World Cup.
- During his 104 in Cuttack, Eoin Morgan went past Marcus Trescothick to become England's fifth-highest run-scorer. Kevin Pietersen is next on the list, only 16 runs ahead.
Quotes
"There is no pressure on us that the series has been won. But when you play international cricket you want to win each and every match. One thing is that we will enjoy the match more because the pressure is not there."
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not worried about Sunday's contest
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was not worried about Sunday's contest
"He's a fiery batsman, he's an awesome player. If he gets the role of No. 2, that'll be great. He's a great guy to bat with - runs hard, plays strong shots and that's exactly what we look for at the top of the order, just to set the tone."
Jason Roy is pumped about the prospect of batting with Billings
Jason Roy is pumped about the prospect of batting with Billings
Alan Gardner is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick