Whitewash now on the cards

Anyone who thought India would ease off having already won the series were proved horribly wrong on Wednesday as they routed England again. The Indians now lead the seven-match series 5-0 and the whitewash now seems more probable than possible.

If anything, the defeat in Cuttack was even more demoralising for England, who made a decent score only to see India knock the runs off with more than six overs to spare.

Quite frankly, it was a drubbing, with only Kevin Pietersen's century a plus point for the tourists. Their bowling looks weak and surely they will not continue to make the mistake of playing only three frontline seamers in the remaining two games.

Just one look at the enjoyment on India's faces whenever there was a wicket as England batted showed us that they are still up for it. Perhaps they just love playing one-day cricket - it certainly seems that way.

How England can pick themselves up for the sixth match, which will be played in Guwuhati on Saturday, is anyone's guess. Now is the time to experiment, but Pietersen, above all people, will not want to lose 7-0, so they may be less than dynamic in their team selection.

There is no doubt that the Test series holds more weight, for both sides. If England lose the one-day series 7-0 but win the Test series, it will be job done. But for the moment, they have to find a way to get a win, and that won't be easy against an India side that is gelling perfectly.

When Yuvraj doesn't get runs, then Sachin Tendulkar (who notched his 90th half-century in ODIs on Wednesday, an almost unfathomable record) does, or Virender Sehwag plunders the attack like only he can. I fear for England in the last two matches.

Bet365 go 4/9 that India win this match, while England are 13/8.

As for the batting honours, Sehwag, who is on fire, tops the betting for India on 11/4, with Tendulkar, who is playing very nicely himself, at 7/2, together with Gautam Gambhir. Yuvraj, who will be itching for another big score after a rare failure on Wednesday, is 9/2.

Suresh Raina and Vinod Kohli are 6/1, while captain MS Dhoni is a 7/1 bet.

For England, Pietersen remains the obvious favourite on 11/4, while Ravi Bopara is next at 4/1. Ian Bell and Alastair Cook are both 9/2, while Owais Shah, who batted decently in Cuttack, is 6/1.

/Please note that odds are correct at time of publication and are subject to change.