India to recover one-day form?

If you have backed India at short odds to beat England in the seven-match one-day series you may be wondering whether after the evidence of game one, it is one of the worst wagers of your life. India were insipid against the home side at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday, losing by a mammoth 104 runs. It is difficult to remember such an accomplised side turning in such a woeful effort. Indeed, it was reminiscent of some of the mismatches in the World Cup. Of course, India disappointed in that tournament, too and the bookmakers are not expecting them to recover from their chastening defeat - making England no better than 8/11 (Hills) for the series with the tourists 5/4 (Bet365, Totesport). However, there is no need to press the panic button just yet. It is still early days and we must not forget that England took a lead in the three-match one-say series with West indies earlier this summer, only to lose. Just as India have not turned into a poor limited-overs side overnight from a decent one, nor have England morphed into world beaters after normally being well-beaten. Sure, England's pace bowling trio of Andrew Flintoff, Stuart Broad and James Anderson, who was very impressive, bowled beautifully but some of the old failings were there. For a start, with the willow they again did not make use of the early power plays which had an impact on their final total. Although 288 proved to be more than enough, they really should have posted something like 350 with only two wickets down. There is work to be done. India will be pleased that game two takes place at Bristol on Friday. It's slow, low surface should suit their spinners and wristy batsmen. But they must also pick the right team. Munaf Patel, their quickest bowler, must come in and so too should canny twirler Ramesh Powar.