England turn to Ravi Bopara and Jimmy Anderson for first one-day match with India

Having chosen to field two spinners in both their warm-up matches and the ill-fated Stanford exhibition in Antigua, the tourists will dispense with the services of Graeme Swann, relying on Samit Patel alone to exploit the turn offered by Indian conditions, with an extra quick in the form of Anderson drafted in to replace Swann.

Bopara is included in a one-day side for the first time since the opening match of the series against South Africa, the Essex man a replacement for all-rounder Luke Wright.

“Ravi has earned his recall,” said captain Kevin Pietersen. “He’s been on the sidelines for a lot of the cricket we’ve played for the last however long.

“I’m a big Ravi Bopara fan on these wickets and we wanted to give him a go – I think he’s so exciting.

“He’s a very quick learner, he wants to learn and he’s also willing to ask questions. He’s really impressed me in the short term I’ve been captain and also when I’ve played alongside him as a player.”

Bopara’s call-up brings an end to a run of 14 consecutive one-day internationals for Sussex all-rounder Wright, who Pietersen admitted had “done nothing wrong”, with Bopara selected as a horses for courses option on unforgiving Indian wickets.

The selection policy for the first one-dayer can be seen as a return to the formula that saw England secure a stunning 4-0 home success over South Africa at the end of last summer.

During that series, England excelled using four specialists seamers – Stuart Broad, Anderson, Steve Harmison and Andrew Flintoff – alongside Patel’s spin and supplemented by the medium pace of Wright and Paul Collingwood.

Bopara is likely to be asked to help out with his share of bowling, although England’s plans have been boosted by Broad successfully coming through a fitness test this morning on a sore knee that forced him to be rested for the humbling defeat by the Mumbai XI.