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England vs India, 1st Royal London ODI today at Bristol

The first of the 5-match Royal London ODI Series 2014 between hosts England and India begins today at the County Ground in Bristol. This venue at Bristol will be hosting an ODI after a long gap of four years but we will have to see if even a single ball is going to be bowled as the weather forecast is for 100% rain! With no floodlights available at Bristol, it will be even more difficult to have a proper ODI today with the sky expected to be gloomy and heavy rain forecast.

india-t20-team-1-400x212This opening ODI is a day game which is scheduled to start at 3 pm in the afteroon as per Indian timings and at 10:30 local time (9:30 GMT). The live video of this England vs India, 1st ODI can be watched on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 3 in India. The same will be beamed live on Sky Sports.

India has a full 17 players to pick from its XI and that would be quite a task. Most of the players have featured in the disastrous Test Series which India lost 1-3. Suresh Raina will be the only batsman who hasn’t played in the Test Series. AT Rayudu may have to sit out to make way for the impressive Ajinkya Rahane.

On the bowling front, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami could be the opening bowlers. Will the team management pick its fastest  bowler Umesh Yadav or go for Mohit Sharma remains to be seen. Umesh Yadav if picked will give the edge to the Indian bowling attack. And so would leg-spinner Karn Sharma but will he get the nod ahead of R Ashwin will have to be seen as Ravindra Jadeja is likely to keep his place in tact because of his batting utility in the shorter form of the game.

England led by Alastair Cook isn’t explosive but has the likes of opener Alex Hales and Wicket Keeper Jos Buttler who can be the game changers. Eoin Morgan will be the key batsman in the middle order. The bowling attack will be led by James Anderson while England will have the comfort of having two off-spinners James Tredwell and Moeen Ali.

Squads of the Royal London ODI Series 2014:

England Squad: Alastair Cook (Captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Jos Buttler (Wicket Keeper), Steven Finn, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell and Chris Woakes

India Squad: MS Dhoni (Captain and Wicket Keeper), Virat Kohli (Vice-Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Umesh Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Sanju Samson and Karn Sharma