The lack of senior batsmen has led to young guns debut in the match against England the first of the five ODI series scheduled for the day at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Hyderabad. Team India goes in with lesser chances as per cricket pundits but with confidence to avenge the humiliation faced in the recent past at England. The statisticians pronounce that at Hyderabad the home team is yet to make a debut at the winning post.

The fall from the heights of the World Cup win has been swift and painful for India. England added insult to injury after the whitewash in the Test series by annihilating India in the ODIs too. That Indian ODI team bore a very different look compared to the one that won the World Cup but it bears a lot of similarity to the team that will be taking on a confident England side in this series.

For MS Dhoni, it is yet ano¬ther test of temperament and character. The Midas touch seems to have disappeared. The 30-year-old Indian ca¬ptain has a new-lo¬ok outfit at his disposal. There is no Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yu¬v¬raj Singh, Zaheer Khan or Harbahajan Singh. Instead, Parthiv Pa¬tel, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravin¬dra Jadeja and Manoj Tiwary will have to rise to the occasion. Gautam Gambhir has recovered from injury. Both the departments have to plan a unique strategy and go about executing the same in style.

But as far as the English are concerned they are brimming with confidence but with a word of caution. The captain of the touring team Alastair Cook says what’s gone is gone and we are totally off it. This is a new series and everyone knows how strong India are at home.

So it’s time folks to relax till the end of the day to stick glued with anticipation of our favorites to ride high. We wish all of them a good luck and may the best win. The match commences at IST 01.30 pm… adios for now.