The England Cricket Team India Tour

Kevin Pietersen faces the first real examination of his captaincy credentials in the forthcoming jaunt to India and I believe cricket betting enthusiasts will join me in an unusually optimistic expectation of the outcome. He certainly achieved immediate results in the One Day International (ODI) series against South Africa, but that was a team resting on the laurels of their domination of the test match series and unfocused on the lesser ODI element of their tour. India will put up a fight.

There’s a useful parallel with the England football team here – each has a new man at the helm, both of whose style is a departure from the usual. The measure of them, in the first instance, is the ruthlessness with which they deal with the sacred cows of their respective teams. Capello with Beckham and Pietersen with Vaughn. It’s a reflection of our revulsion about the corrosive power of the ‘old boy’ set-up that we want them to unemotionally sweep them away and bring in new players who will score goals and get runs rather than just be good travelling mates on the road.

It’s already happened on the football pitch and we now see ourselves as a force to be reckoned with. With the Ashes coming up next year, the timing could hardly be better to get this new England side up and running in India. The point is, this time I’ve got a real feeling that the right decisions will be made. Decisions based on sound cricketing judgement rather than emotional cop-out. Pietersen’s need to win is England’s greatest friend.

It’s an unusual tour with seven ODI matches and just two tests. Against South Africa we fielded five bats with Flintoff in the all-rounder position. We might need six in India and it’s critical who will replace Vaughn with Strauss becoming the additional batsman. Glovesman, James Foster is on form right now and can wield a bat, having just scored a century in his county’s final match of the season.