What

The third One-Day International of the five-match series between India and England

When

October 20, 2011. The game begins at 14:30 pm, IST. The match is a day-night affair and will be streamed LIVE for viewers across the world on www.bcci.tv. Viewers in India can catch the action with a five-minute delay.

Where

Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali. Although, Mohali was the scene of India’s semi-final triumph against Pakistan in the ICC ODI World Cup played earlier in the year, the hosts have lost three of their last four games at this venue. England have not played at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium before, but given the propensity of the Mohali track to favour strokeplay, this could be the visitors’ best bet to prevent the hosts from taking an unassailable 3-0 series lead.

The Teams

The two main concerns facing India before the start of the second ODI were R Vinay Kumar’s ability to provide breakthroughs and Ajinkya Rahane’s and Parthiv Patel’s dodgy form at the top of the batting order. And while Vinay Kumar responded to his critics with his best ever bowling figures of 4-30 in the Delhi ODI, Rahane and Patel still need to fire. An average of 41.71 for the first wicket from seven innings doesn’t do full justice to either of their batting skills.

A month after trouncing India in all formats of the game, England are now staring at the prospect of an ODI series defeat against the same opponents. Barring Graeme Swann (economy-rate 4.83), the other players have had a most ordinary tour so far. The pacers, Tim Bresnan, Steven Finn and Jade Dernbach have only four wickets to show from a combined 50.4 overs of bowling, while Samit Patel has a wicket after conceding 66 runs from 10 overs. While the desire to play an unchanged side in the second ODI, after the 126-run walloping in the first ODI, was understandable, for it would have immediately been branded as a kneejerk reaction, it’s time the England squad ring in some changes for Mohali. Samit Patel could well be replaced by legspinner Scott Borthwick and Ian Bell should be expected to play ahead of Ravi Bopara or Jonny Bairstow.

Trivia:

Virat Kohli has scored seven hundreds in his 66 ODIs – most by any Indian batsman in his first 66 ODIs. VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had scored five.

Jonathan Trott’s 1173 runs in 2011 are the most scored by an England batsman in ODIs in a calendar year.

Venue Stats:

India – played - 10, won - 6, lost – 4, tied – 0, no result – 0

England – played - 0, won – 0, lost – 0, tied – 0, no result – 0

Highest total in an innings: South Africa 351/5 in 50.0 overs v Netherlands – March 3, 2011

Lowest total in an innings: Pakistan 89 all out in 25.0 overs v South Africa – October 27, 2006

Best individual score in an innings: AB de Villiers (South Africa) – 134 v Netherlands – March 3, 2011

Best bowling figures in an innings: M Ntini (South Africa) 6.0-2-21-5 v Pakistan - October 27, 2006

Average first innings score at PCA Stadium, Mohali:

In D/N matches: 253 (in 16 matches)

Result summary at PCA Stadium, Mohali:

Head-to-head:

Form guide (most recent listed first):

India: Won, Won, Lost, Tied, Lost (2 wins, 2 losses)

England: Lost, Lost, Won, Tied, Won (2 losses, 2 wins)

The Squads:

India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), R Ashwin, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Varun Aaron, RA Jadeja, Manoj Tiwary, Sreenath Aravind, Rahul Sharma & Umesh Yadav

England: Alastair Cook (c), Jonathan Bairstow, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Scott Borthwick, Tim Bresnan, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter, Stuart Meaker, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott, Chris Woakes

All stats are as onOctober 19, 2011