Onus on the batsmen

England will look to Pietersen to provide the punch with the bat in the ODIs series © Getty Images

A win in the Test series wasn't expected, but India will start the seven-match one-day as favourites against an England side that has struggled to get the right formula in the shorter version. India haven't set the world alight either with their recent one-day form, but after their World Cup debacle, they have shown signs of getting it right, beating South Africa 2-1 in Belfast earlier on this tour. England, on the other hand, went down 1-2 to West Indies after thrashing them in the Tests. Overall, India hold a 30-26 edge against England, but more importantly, they've won seven of the last ten. (Click here for more detailed stats on ODIs between England and India.)

The Indian fast bowlers did a fabulous job in the Tests, but the onus of winning the ODIs will probably rest on the batsmen. Rahul Dravid had a poor Test series with the bat, but he can heart from his ODI performances in England - he averages more than 55 from 20 matches, and has scored at least a half-century in 50% of his innings here. Sachin Tendulkar averages nearly 40, and has never missed out on a hundred once he has gone past 50 in an ODI in England.

India's Big Three in ODIs in England

Batsman	ODIs	Runs	Average	Strike rate	100s/ 50s
Rahul Dravid	20	891	55.68	77.74	2/ 8
Sachin Tendulkar	19	677	39.82	89.90	3/ 0
Sourav Ganguly	20	785	39.25	75.48	1/ 4

Andrew Flintoff's return will obviously bolster England, especially since he has such an outstanding record at home: in 47 games, he averages nearly 40, at a strike rate of more than 95. When playing outside England, his average drops significantly, to 28.25. Flintoff will also be playing his first home ODI in more than two years - he last time he played one was in July 2005, during the three-match NatWest Challenge Series against Australia.

England's batsmen in home ODIs

Batsman	ODIs	Runs	Average	Strike rate	100s/ 50s
Andrew Flintoff	47	1268	39.62	95.62	3/ 6
Ian Bell	13	484	40.33	69.24	0/ 4
Owais Shah	8	242	34.57	75.62	0/ 2
Kevin Pietersen	21	473	31.53	87.10	0/ 3
Alastair Cook	5	146	29.20	76.84	0/ 0
Paul Collingwood	44	868	28.93	76.40	1/ 5

Unlike Flintoff, Kevin Pietersen has done much better overseas: compared to an overall average of 53, he only scores at a rate of 31.53 at home; abroad it jumps to 66.46. Paul Collingwood comes in at the bottom of that list, but along with Pietersen, he has been England's biggest matchwinner in the last couple of years.

India's best batsmen in wins during this period haven't been Tendulkar, Ganguly or Dravid; Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh have taken over that mantle, and their ability to keep a cool head during the frenetic final overs of ODIs could again prove critical to their team's chances.

Best batsmen in ODI wins for England and India since August 20, 2005

Batsmen	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike rate	100s/ 50s
Mahendra Singh Dhoni	28	1197	85.50	105.64	1/ 9
Yuvraj Singh	31	1342	70.63	94.90	3/ 8
Kevin Pietersen	11	506	63.25	95.11	1/ 3
Paul Collingwood	16	632	63.20	83.37	2/ 3

Yuvraj hasn't yet broken into the Test team, but he has been outstanding in the shorter version in the last two years. In fact, it's remarkable how similar his and Dhoni's numbers are to Pietersen's.

Comparing Dhoni, Yuvraj and Pietersen

Batsmen	Innings	Runs	Average	Strike rate	100s/ 50s
Dhoni, in last 2 years	54	1950	51.31	98.68	2/ 13
Yuvraj, in last 2 years	51	1938	51.00	89.30	4/ 11
Pietersen - career	48	2068	53.02	90.90	5/ 14
Dhoni v England	6	184	46.00	80.00	0/ 1
Yuvraj v England	16	521	47.36	96.12	1/ 3
Pietersen v India	6	318	53.00	90.08	0/ 3
Yuvraj in England	12	300	30.00	84.98	0/ 2
Pietersen in England	17	473	31.53	87.10	0/ 3

Zaheer Khan and James Anderson will spearhead the bowling attacks, and again, their ODI stats are pretty similar as well.

Zaheer and Anderson - spearheads with similar stats

Bowler	ODIs	Wickets	Average	Econ
Zaheer - career	127	184	27.71	4.86
Anderson - career	69	99	27.88	4.82
Zaheer in England	7	14	23.57	5.64
Anderson in England	17	31	22.12	4.97

The two spinners in India's squad - Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla - are relative newcomers, and England will feel relieved that they won't have to contend with Harbhajan Singh: in 17 matches against England, Harbhajan has taken 28 wickets at an average of less than 23, and an economy rate of less than four runs per over.

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