“India is a strong side but we will not leave any stone unturned,” says the English Skipper Alastair Cook. He stressed more on giving the early blows to Indian team which will push them on the back-foot if they win the crucial toss in this contest. Cook is looking quite confident with the performance of his team so far and has made sure that his side will clinch the maiden ODI title in all these years.
Cook was quoted by Indian Express saying, "India is a very strong side. They are unbeaten and playing very good cricket. They are batting well at the top of the order and getting early wickets. They will go in as favourites."
He added, "They're unbeaten aren't they and have played some very good cricket. We're happy with that. But our record against India last time we played them in England is good . So we can certainly take a lot from that.”
English Captain is in no mood to give away this golden chance so easily. He is very much relying on his pace battery which has all the potential to bamboozle the Indian batting and with the spiny spice in James Tredwell Cook is ready to give India the taste of their-own medicine.
He was quoted by Deccan Herald saying, "It's a big final for us. The boys are raring to go and ready to play. It's going to be a one-off day and we will give it all. James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn have to do the job against the Indians as they have the skills and can get the early wickets to put pressure on the middle-order. We have our plans.”
He added, "We have a good record at home but it's going to be a one-off day and the better team will win. We have played each other quite often in the last one and half years and there are no hidden secrets."
Cook is ready to answer the formidable Indian batting with his new ball bowlers who are in good form. He reckons, "Yeah, obviously their top order have played very well. I think both top-orders have played well in this tournament and probably that's one of the reasons that we're in the final.
"Of course, we've got plans, you know? And we've also got very skillful new ball bowlers, as well. It's going to be a good contest out there, a contest in which if we want to win the game, we're going to have to try and get the best of them because we know how dangerous those guys at the top of the order can be," he said.
Cook feels that Birmingham is the right place to settle the scores with India as both the team will get some good support here.
He was quoted by Times of India saying, “It's just a great place to play India here. It's going to be a great crowd. I think both sides will get some great support, and hopefully we can put on a good show."
"Look, we've played quite a lot of one-day cricket and Test match cricket against them over the last year and a half or so, so I don't think it's too many unknown quantities from either side, really, not too many hidden secrets. And yeah, it should be a really good game," he added.