The Hindu : Sport : Tendulkar likely to open with Sehwag

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Tendulkar likely to open with Sehwag

Principal Correspondent

Moores, conceding India played better, confident England can bounce back

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

BRING THE SMILES BACK: Former captain Paul Collingwood would be keen to come good on Sunday, and spare his successor Kevin Pietersen any grimaces, as England readies to stay afloat in the series.

Bangalore: The explosive combine of Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag are likely to open the Indian innings in the fourth ODI of the seven-match series at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.

"It is always a pleasure to have Sachin back in the team. He will open and I like him to open with Sehwag. It’s a possibility," M.S. Dhoni said here on Saturday evening.

The Indian captain said that his team would experiment after securing the series. "Whether we win 7-0 or 5-2 or 4-3, it is all about team effort and we are not looking that far ahead.

“We have a good chance of winning the series here tomorrow or in the next match and after that we will try and give exposure to the players on the bench. Even Zaheer

Khan who has bowled his heart out needs rest but we have to win the series before that," Dhoni said.

D/L method factor

Asked whether the possibility of rains and the implementation of the Duckworth Lewis method weighed on his mind, Dhoni said: "I haven’t thought about it yet. The wicket looks a bit soft because of the rains. Yes, with the Duckworth Lewis method, we could chase but in the event of the overs getting shortened too much then the required run-rate will reach alarming proportions. So we haven’t decided yet."

Meanwhile England coach Peter Moores said that the Indians had played superior cricket.

"Credit to the Indians. They played good cricket, batted well with good partnerships in the top-order and their spinners have bowled well," Moores said.

Moores said that it is a ‘do-or-die’ situation. "If we lose tomorrow’s match, we lose the series and from here on every match is a final for us, we have to win all of them.

"The team has that ability and may be in this day and night match the dynamics might change," Moores said.

Backing Collingwood

The England coach backed Paul Collingwood to comeback strongly. "Paul is going through a low phase but he is a quality player. Yuvraj went through a bad patch and he has come back strongly against us. I expect the same with Paul," Moores said.

He also reposed faith in an off-colour seamer James Anderson and Matt Prior in his role as a batsman.

Moores said that there was concern about bad light affecting the sixth ODI at Guwahati on November 29.

"We are worried about that but we know that match referee Roshan Mahanama has discussed about that with the ICC.

"It would be unfair if that match doesn’t have a final closure and we need to work on the number of overs. Kanpur was frustrating."

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