India will turn to their experienced batsmen to deliver the goods when they go into the do-or-die sixth one-day international against England in London on Wednesday, hoping that the strategy of packing the team with seven specialist batsmen will do the trick again.
The seven-batsmen strategy worked for the beleaguered team in the last game in Leeds and the Indians will be keen to keep the momentum going and level the score 3-3 in the seven-match series.
Needing three wins in a row to clinch the series, Rahul Dravid and his men crossed the first hurdle at Headingley on Sunday with a stunning batting display which is bound to boost their morale when the two teams square up at The Oval in what promises to be a thrilling contest of nerves and skills.
Although the batting came good in the rain-hit game in Leeds, the fielding has still shown no signs of improvement and that could really be the difference between the two teams in the crucial match on Wednesday.
It will no doubt be a huge gamble to go into the match with just four specialist bowlers but the Indians are willing to take the chance. Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly have enough experience of bowling in one-dayers to take the load of the fifth bowler.
The question mark on the availability of Andrew Flintoff will be a big advantage for the visitors as the lanky all-rounder is capable of changing the complexion of the game single-handedly.
Relieved with his team managing to stay afloat in the series with the win at Headingley, Dravid said, "It is nice to go to London, knowing we have a chance to win the series. It is nice when two top players get you off to a good start that you know you can capitalise on."
And echoing similar sentiments was Sachin Tendulkar whose fireworks at the top of the order set the ball rolling for India.
"We stand a good chance of pulling it through and doing a better job in the remaining games," Tendulkar said.
"We'll focus all our energy on the last two games and I'm quite confident we'll finish well."
India will once again look to the old firm of Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly to continue the sizzling stands they have been sharing opening the innings. Gautam Gambhir too made the most of his opportunity, while Yuvraj Singh, Dravid and Mahendra Singh Dhoni also played their part in batting England out of the game.
India's bowling too looked good with Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar doing a good job, backed up by the two spinners Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla.
However, the bowlers once again had very little support in the field and that continues to remain a big headache for India in this series.
Having dropped three catches, including Ian Bell on nought, Dravid conceded, "We're not holding our catches and we're not fielding well, it's as simple as that. The reasons for that could be many but the simple fact is we're not fielding well.
"A lot of our better cricketers are not necessarily our best fielders as well; that's something we may have to learn to adjust to and do the best we can," Dravid said.
England, on the other hand, ought to be wary of the Indians at the venue where they wrapped up their first Test series win in 21-years by batting them out of the game.
With skipper Paul Collingwood leading the way, England's batsmen have been doing well. But this assessment has to be made guardedly because most of them have thrived on dropped catches by the buttered fingered Indian fielding.
And, without Flintoff, their bowling lacks venom and fire. With both Flintoff and Ravi Bopara needing to clear their fitness tests ahead of the game, Chris Tremlett added to the home teams woes by pulling out of the sixth one-dayer due to a foot injury.
On the positive side, Ryan Sidebottom has overcome his side strain problem and joined the squad. England has also called in Luke Wright, who scored a blazing half-century for England Lions in the warm up game against India, as a cover for Flintoff and Bopara.
Collingwood still has his chin up ahead of the last two games.
"There is still a lot of confidence in there. It's not all doom and gloom," he said.
Ganguly, who batted and bowled his way to glory at Headingley, believes India can make it three win in a row to clinch the series.
"We lost a game we should have won at Old Trafford but a lot of teams have won three games in a row. We have done it before and hopefully we can do it again.
"If we play one more good game at The Oval, then Lord's will be anybody's game," Ganguly said.
Teams:
India: Rahul Dravid (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ramesh Powar, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, S Sreesanth, Piyush Chawla, Robin Uthappa, Munaf Patel and Rohit Sharma.
England: Paul Collingwood (captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravinder Bopara, Chris Broad, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Dimitry Mascarenhas, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom and Luke Wright.
