London: Despite the stalwarts missing from the lineup, young Indian batsmen have shown the mettle to keep the visitors hopeful of registering their first win on the tour when they take on England in the third ODI here at The Oval on Friday.
Though the bowling has worn an ordinary look ever since the departure of Zaheer Khan, the batting has shown signs of holding together with the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina and veteran Rahul Dravid.Parthiv Patel has been in terrific form so far in the limited-over series
With scores of 61, 40 and 54 in as many outings so far, Rahane has been a revelation and has presented England a challenge they haven't faced throughout the summer. He plays both horizontal- and vertical-bat shots with equal ease, which has brought him instant success in the bouncy and swinging conditions.
Parthiv too has been a discovery at the top of the order, with his aggression making up for Virender Sehwag's absence. Unlucky to miss out on a century in the first ODI, his small cameo in Southampton the other day was reminiscent of Sehwag. And with Rahul Dravid shifting gears swiftly and Raina coming into his own in the shorter format, India might well opt to chase a target.
Skipper MS Dhoni's biggest worry, though, is his own batting form and his slapdash bowlers. After a dismal show in the Test series, Dhoni's scores in the one-off Twenty 20 and the two subsequent ODIs read 8, 33 and 6 respectively.
India's colourless bowling was responsible for their loss in the second ODI where they allowed England to stroll to a stiff target of 188 in the 23-over game and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
India's only successful bowler in the Test series, Praveen Kumar, didn't impress at The Rose Bowl alongside a pedestrian Munaf Patel and Vinay Kumar. Though Praveen is certain to keep his place, speed sensation Varun Aaron stands a chance for his ODI debut in place of Vinay. And RP Singh too may get a look in as his left-arm pace provides the much-needed variation to the attack. If that transpires, Munaf may have to step aside.
England too have a few bowling worries with Jade Dernbach not able to show the form he displayed in the one-off Twenty. Also, Stuart Broad hasn't been consistent with his length in the first two ODIs. That has left James Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann to shoulder the wicket-taking responsibility. So England skipper Alastair Cook might think of replacing Dernbach with Steven Finn or the much-talked-about all-rounder Ben Stokes.
The hosts' batting wears a much settled look, which was evident in their cake-walk in the second ODI, courtesy a captain's knock by the skipper and useful contributions from Craig Kieswetter and Ravi Bopara.
In a nutshell, it may well turn out to be a battle of the batsmen but the scales are still tilted in favour of England to take a 2-0 lead as they have the momentum and a far better bowling attack.
