Cricket: Cook refuses to take victory for granted

England captain ready for ‘tough’ challenge in India.

HYDERABAD: England will look to improve on their dismal One-Day International (ODI) record in India when they clash with the injury-ravaged world champions in a five-match series starting tomorrow.

England have beaten India at home just once in their last 10 ODIs. Alastair Cook’s side will be buoyant after a dominant home season when they beat India 4-0 in the Test series and also won the ODIs 3-0.

Cook, however, refused to take victory for granted against the depleted hosts missing key players, including Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.

“I don’t see any relation between what happened in England and what’s going to happen here,” he said. “India are very strong at home, and we’ve an extremely tough challenge on our hands. It’s a great opportunity for us to play them in their backyard.”

Despite injuries to star players and the humiliating defeats in England, India appeared unfazed.“England played very well in England and deserved to win, but we’ll do well at home,” said Indian batsman Suresh Raina.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2011.