India will be aiming to complete a clean sweep when their ODI series against England heads to the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat for the third and final match on Wednesday.
The Men in Blue have been excellent over the last month, claiming the T20I series 4-1, while they hold an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 50-over format after a stunning victory in Cuttack on Sunday.
Match preview
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India continued their sensational white-ball form over the weekend when they notched up yet another four-wicket victory over England, as they chased down a target of 305 with 33 balls to spare.
Leading the charge was their skipper Rohit Sharma, who smashed 119 runs in just 90 balls, including 12 fours and seven sixes at the top of the order, while vice-captain Shubman Gill played an excellent backup role with 60 runs of 52.
Sharma's knock saw him break several records, including surpassing legend Sachin Tendulkar's 15,335 runs scored by an Indian opener across all formats, placing him second on the all-time list behind Virender Sehwag's 16,119.
Additionally, he became the second-highest six-hitter in ODI history, now on 334, surpassing Chris Gayle's 331, leaving him just 17 short of Shahid Afridi's 351 for Pakistan at the summit of the list.
However, while the hosts' captain grabbed the headlines, India had several impressive contributions toward the victory, including Shreyas Iyer's 44 of 47 and Axar Patel's unbeaten 41, while Ravindra Jadeja once again starred with the ball, picking up 3/35 in his 10 overs.
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Meanwhile, after Jos Buttler won the toss and elected to bat first, Phil Salt and Ben Duckett put on a solid 81-run opening partnership, and a series comeback genuinely looked on for England in Cuttack.
Unfortunately for the Three Lions, despite posting a very defendable total, their bowling lineup struggled to make in-roads, highlighted by Adil Rashid, who has been their best bowler during this tour, going for 1/78 in his 10 overs.
England's pace attack was largely ineffective, with Saqib Mahmood and Mark Wood both ending wicketless, while Gus Atkinson claimed the scalp of Hardik Pandya late in the day, but shipped over nine runs per over in doing so.
The result brought with it an unwanted record for Brendan McCullum's side, as they have now lost 27 matches after scoring 300+ plus runs - the most of any team in the 50-over format of the game.
However, there were a couple of positives that the visitors would have taken from that match, such as Joe Root's knock of 69 from 72 balls and Duckett's impressive striking at the top of the order.
Team News
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Jasprit Bumrah was expected to return to the squad for the third ODI, but given that the Men in Blue have already wrapped up the series, it is likely that they will not risk their star speedster ahead of the Champions Trophy.
Yashasvi Jaiswal made way for Virat Kohli's return on Sunday, but Gautam Gambhir may consider recalling the opener to the starting lineup in midweek, while Arshdeep Singh is also in contention to make his first appearance in this series.
Root registered his 40th ODI half-century, taking his tally of fifty-plus scores to 56, which includes 16 centuries, surpassing former captain Eoin Morgan to register the most fifty-plus scores for England.
After missing out the weekend's match due to a hamstring injury, all-rounder Jacob Bethell has now been ruled out for an extended period, which has led to Tom Banton being recalled to the England squad following a three-year absence.
India squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja
England squad: Harry Brook, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Tom Banton, Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Jamie Overton, Jos Buttler, Jamie Smith, Philip Salt, Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Saqib Mahmood, Mark Wood
Series so far
ODI 1 of 3: India won by 4 wickets
England - 248 (47.4)
India - 251/6 (38.4)
ODI 2 of 3: India won by 4 wickets
England - 304 (49.5)
India - 308/6 (44.3)
We say: India to win
England have had no answer to India's dominance during this tour, and while they will want to salvage some pride in this match, we feel the hosts will once again be too good for the Three Lions.
Devesh Jaganath
