India-England set for 4th ODI

LONDON (Agencies) - India landed in England on July 13. Over the last two months they have lost eight players to injuries, many others have lost form, and an equal number didn't even bring it to begin with. Their No. 1 ranking is gone, the Twenty20 international was lost, and now they can't even win the ODI series. The frightening part for them is that things could still get worse from here. Todays (Sunday) match is their last chance to win an international in England; the final game is in Wales. In terms of disastrous tours, this one ranks right up there with the ones to Australia in 1991-92 and 1999-2000, to South Africa in 1996-97 and to the West Indies in 1989 (leaving aside the tours before India started winning Tests). Yet, except for the West Indies in 1989, they managed to win something on the other tours. The weather has interrupted at crucial moments, killing the first ODI with India in ascendancy, reducing the second to a near T20, a format where England are world champions. It could be argued that the Duckworth-Lewis method helped India in the third ODI, but their momentum was stalled just when they were making a comeback and the damp outfield negated the spinners to an extent. Lord's, though, is usually a flat track, but weather forecasts that suggest a 60% chance of precipitation could spell further trouble for the visitors. If it helps, two of India's most famous wins have come at Lord's: the World Cup final of 1983 and the 326-run chase in the 2002 NatWest final. England could call in Samit Patel for Ben Stokes, who is not bowling at the moment and whose early rushes against spin haven't been too encouraging. Ravi Bopara has surely earned himself another game after a 41-ball 40, and as has been the case with Bopara, it is one game at a time. England (probable): Craig Kieswetter (wk), Alastair Cook (capt), Jonathan Trott, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Ben Stokes, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Jade Dernbach India (probable): Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), R Jadeja, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, RP Singh and Varun Aaron

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