Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first, as India's hugely anticipated Group B clash with England prepared to get underway in Bangalore. In front of a raucous crowd, and with a victory apiece in their opening fixtures against Bangladesh and Netherlands respectively, the most hyped contest of the tournament so far will go a long way towards deciding the permutations in a group that is already looking the toughest by a distance in the World Cup.However, England's hopes of restricting India's mighty batting line-up were dealt a huge blow before a ball was even bowled, when Stuart Broad - their most aggressive and impressive seamer on the tour so far - was ruled out of contention through illness. "Good luck lads, gutted im not there," Broad tweeted from the team hotel. "Will be watching from the bed ive not left for 2 days.... Never felt worse."Andrew Strauss admitted that the loss was a big blow, for it is no secret that the extra bounce in the Bangalore wicket would have suited Broad's hit-the-deck style. However, he put a brave face on the set-back, as Ajmal Shahzad came into the team as a direct replacement, with Mike Yardy preferred to Ravi Bopara to provide an extra spinning option.
"We know we've got good fast-bowling stocks," said Strauss at the toss. "Ajmal did well in Australia and the Indians haven't seen him before. Hopefully we can play good cricket, because the guys are very excited about playing in India, and are looking forward to the challenge."
The build-up to the contest has been intense, starting with the fixture's relocation from Kolkata to Bangalore, and culminating earlier in the week with scenes of heavy-handed policing while local fans were queuing outside the stadium for tickets. This will be India's first fixture on home soil following their opening victory in Dhaka, but Dhoni insisted he'd seen it all before. "There's no pressure as such," he said. "But we are looking forward to the national anthem in front of 50,000 people."
Dhoni confirmed a solitary change to the Indian line-up from that match, with Sreesanth omitted following a sketchy new-ball spell against Bangladesh, and the legspinner Piyush Chawla recalled to probe England's traditional weakness against wrist-spin. Asked whether it was the pitch or the opposition that had prompted the change, Dhoni admitted: "It's a combination of both. If a legspinner bowls well he's a definite wicket-taking option."
In the absence of Broad, whose short-length approach was sure to be the tactic of choice against Virender Sehwag and Co., England will need to readjust their plans in the field, with the early burden falling on their senior seamer, James Anderson, who endured a shocking time with the ball in England's uncomfortable victory over the Netherlands. Graeme Swann's offspin, however, will be crucial in the middle overs, as a batting line-up that also includes Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh sets itself for the sort of onslaught that buried Bangladesh last week.
India 1 Virender Sehwag, 2 Sachin Tendulkar, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Piyush Chawla, 11 Munaf Patel.
England 1 Andrew Strauss (capt), 2 Kevin Pietersen, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Paul Collingwood, 6 Matt Prior (wk), 7 Tim Bresnan, 8 Mike Yardy, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Ajmal Shahzad.
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