india depend on batsmen to win in 3rd ODI

London: Despite the stalwarts missing from the lineup, young Indian batsmen have shown the mettle to keep the visitors hopeful of registering their first win on the tour when they take on England in the third ODI here at The Oval on Friday.

Though the bowling has worn an ordinary look ever since the departure of Zaheer Khan, the batting has shown signs of holding together with the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Parthiv Patel, Suresh Raina and veteran Rahul Dravid.
Parthiv too has been a discovery at the top of the order, with his aggression making up for Virender
Skipper MS Dhoni's biggest worry, though, is his own batting form and his slapdash bowlers. After a dismal show in the Test series, Dhoni's scores in the one-off Twenty 20 and the two subsequent ODIs read 8, 33 and 6 respectively.
India's colourless bowling was responsible for their loss in the second ODI where they allowed England to stroll to a stiff target of 188 in the 23-over game and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
England too have a few bowling worries with Jade Dernbach not able to show the form he displayed in the one-off Twenty. Also, Stuart Broad hasn't been consistent with his length in the first two ODIs. That has left James Anderson, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann to shoulder the wicket-taking responsibility. So England skipper Alastair Cook might think of replacing Dernbach with Steven Finn or the much-talked-about all-rounder Ben Stokes.
The hosts' batting wears a much settled look, which was evident in their cake-walk in the second ODI, courtesy a captain's knock by the skipper and useful contributions from Craig Kieswetter and Ravi Bopara.
In a nutshell, it may well turn out to be a battle of the batsmen but the scales are still tilted in favour of England to take a 2-0 lead as they have the momentum and a far better bowling attack.
Likely Elevens:
India: Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Manoj Tiwary, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni(c&wk), R Ashwin, R Vinay Kumar/Varun Aaron, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel
England: Craig Kieswetter(wk), Alastair Cook(c), Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Ben Stokes, Samit Patel/Jonathan Trott, Graeme Swann, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Jade Dernbach