Captain Cook adapts well

Alastair Cook considered dropping himself from his own team, yet went on to prove his worth beyond doubt to England - even in a match reduced to almost Twenty20 proportions.

Captain Cook's unbeaten 80 at the top of the order, from only 63 balls, steered England past what seemed a taxing target of 187 for eight with almost a full over and seven wickets to spare over India at the Rose Bowl.

However, when it became clear this one-day international would be reduced to only 23 overs-per-side, Cook - absent from England's team in the shortest format for almost two years - did give at least some passing thought to stepping aside. "That was mentioned in our dressing room," he said.

Cook added: "We talked about it. But when we're in a one-day competition you're not allowed to bring new players in for Twenty20. You have to adapt, so I captained."

England are therefore 1-0 up, with three NatWest Series matches to play, after their sixth successive victory in all completed contests against the tourists this summer. Cook shared a brutal opening stand of 67 in under seven overs with Craig Kieswetter, and then easily kept up the tempo on a very good batting surface under lights.

Cook, whose 50-over credentials were even questioned when he was first named captain at the start of this summer, silenced those critics with a blazing tempo against Sri Lanka - and he was at it again here.

"It shows all the work I'm doing is the right work," he said. "There's still a huge amount I can improve on and stay on that upward curve. I'm just desperate to keep improving, so I can do that more often in the one-day side."

Cook reserved praise for others instead - including Kieswetter, and the groundstaff for the pitch they produced. "It was a bit frantic (in the field), but we restricted them to a total we could get. It was a decent score, but we thought it was a par score if we played well.

"Craig played brilliantly at the top of the order and left us just having to milk it to get there. That was the best wicket I've batted on for a long time. The bowlers said after a couple of overs that it wasn't doing anything, and it was skidding onto the bat quite nicely under the lights."

Cook's opposite number MS Dhoni said: "It was a tough day. We batted well to put 180-plus on the board. But the first powerplay was crucial - they got 60-odd runs and 100 from 10 overs and then they didn't need to take any risks. We have been able to put runs on the board in the ODI series, which is a positive for us, but a bit of improvement is needed in the bowling department."