India is on a high after clinching both the Test and the T20 series against England. But the visitors are reigning 50-over champions, so will they salvage some pride by winning the ODI series? (“WC spots up for grabs in ODI series: Morgan; Kohli calls for player power in scheduling,” Mar.23, Gulf Today).

England captain Eoin Morgan would want to do so but his men will have to raise the bar. India has won both the Test and T20 series in the ongoing tour after being 0-1 down at the start of the series. Such comebacks don’t augur well for England but Morgan could capitalise on the fact that the last time India played an ODI series was last November in Australia, which they lost.

Apart from that all-rounder Ben Stokes, who played the hero’s role in the World Cup win against New Zealand at Lord’s in July 2019, is back in the ODI squad. That will, no doubt, be a big boost for Morgan.

As for India, the spotlight will be on Prasidh Krishna who will be playing his first international and of course one of the T20 series star performer Suryakumar Yadav. Huge expectations will also be on Dhawan who will be opening with Rohit Sharma to set the tempo.  

India though will be favourites but skipper Kohli raised a valid point that of mental fatigue, which could affect players because of extended bubble life due to the pandemic.

The captain has made a suggestion that the players should be consulted over the cricket calendar. And it is a worthy one. Cricket administrators should adjust the schedule because the current pandemic situation. Training and playing under constrained conditions has put a lot of stress on the players. In light of that the ODIs should have been cut down to bare minimum as the highlight this season is on the World Test Championship and the T20 World Cup.

Ved R
By email