England aim to dominate India in ODI Series too: Bresnan

England fast-bowler Tim Bresnan has sounded a notice to India saying that they will come hard at them in the upcoming ODI series. England, according to Bresnan, wants to inflict another whitewash on the World Champions.

India will go into the five-match ODI series, starting September 3, without five of their World Cup heroes due to injuries.

Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan have all been ruled out of ODI action and Gautam Gambhir is also likely to miss the series due to concussion.

Bresnan pointed out that India will go into the series as favourites following their victory in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 a couple of months ago. However, he added that England is a tough side to beat at home and they will be full of confidence following their 3-2 series win against Sri Lanka earlier in the summer.

"If we come out with confidence against India, we should get the result we're after. We sustained the assault during the Test matches and we'll be looking to do the same in the one-dayers," Bresnan said.

Bresnan maintained that England are eyeing nothing short of victory in all the remaining matches in the tour, which also includes a one-off Twenty20 Cricket match on Wednesday.

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Gambhir likely to be fit for ODIs

The uncertainty over Gautam Gambhir's contribution in the upcoming ODI series against England is all but over with the Indian opener likely to be fit for the five-match ODI Series, team manager Shivlal Yadav said here today.

Yadav said Gambhir should be fine for next month's ODI series after his MRI scan did not show anything untoward.

Gambhir is critical to India's plans in the ODIs now that his fellow opener Virender Sehwag has been completely ruled out for the five one-dayers and one-off Twenty20 match.

Gambhir suffered the concussion after he backpedalled at mid-on in a bid to catch a miscued pull off Kevin Pietersen during the 4th Test. The chance was fluffed when he fell back and hit his head on the ground with a thud.

Even though speculation over his availability has died down after the MRI scan, the left-hander did not come out to practice with his colleagues on Wednesday.

The present series has been one of misfortune for Gambhir. He was painfully hit on his right elbow while fielding at forward short leg during the 1st Test at Lord's.

He subsequently had to miss the 2nd Test at Trent Bridge. He did play the 3rd Test at Edgbaston and scored 38 and 14 in the two innings.

India can overtake Sri Lanka in ICC ODI rankings

Going by present form, it looks highly unlikely but if India can manage to beat England by a 4-1 margin or better in the upcoming one-day series, they can climb to 2nd spot from 3rd in the ICC ranking chart.

World champions India (117) are placed 3rd behind Sri Lanka (119) in the list, headed by Australia (130)

Australia's 3-2 series win has restricted Sri Lanka to earn only one ratings point which, in turn, has given India a chance to reclaim the second position.

To achieve the number two position, India will have to beat England by 4-1 or whitewash the hosts in the five-match ODI series, starting at Chester-le-Street on September 3.

Pakistan in Zimbabwe 2011 Series Schedule

Date	Match Details	Time (GMT)	Place
Sep 01 - 05	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, Only Test	07:30	Bulawayo
Sep 08 - Thu	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 1st ODI	07:00	Bulawayo
Sep 11 - Sun	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd ODI	07:00	Harare
Sep 14 - Wed	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 3rd ODI	07:00	Harare
Sep 16 - Fri	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 1st T20I	12:00	Harare
Sep 18 - Sun	Zimbabwe v Pakistan, 2nd T20I	12:00	Harare

Dravid recalled for T20 and ODI series against England

Rahul Dravid on Saturday earned a surprise recall to shore up India's struggling batting line-up while an off-colour Harbhajan Singh was dropped from the 16-member squad for the T20 and one-day cricket series against England beginning August 31.

Rahul Dravid, the lone batsman who has been steady with two back-to-back centuries in the ongoing 4-match Test series, makes his way into the ODI fold after a gap of almost two years to provide stability to a brittle line-up struggling in the seaming English conditions.

Harbhajan Singh, who has been ruled out of the Test series because of an abdominal strain and has been been woefully out of form in recent times, was expectedly not considered for the ODIs along with another star injured player Yuvraj Singh, nursing a broken left index finger.

Karnataka paceman Vinay Kumar and wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel were recalled into the 16-member squad announced by the BCCI secretary N Srinivasan after a meeting of the selection committee.

"Zaheer Khan is suffering from a recurrent right hamstring strain and a right ankle impingement. He will require a surgery for his ankle, followed by intensive rehabilitation for both the ankle and hamstring. He will need at least 14-16 weeks to recover completely. He will therefore not be able to participate in the ongoing Test series and subsequent Twenty20 International and ODI series against England," the BCCI said in a statement.

His loss has been RP Singh's gain as the pacer from Uttar Pradesh makes a comeback nearly after 3 years. He last played a Test match in April 2008 and an ODI in September 2009.

Paceman S Sreesanth, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and all-rounder Yusuf Pathan also failed to find favour with the five-man selection panel.


Team Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag (vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh raina, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Amit Mishra, Parthiv Patel.