England captain Kevin Pietersen is considering changes to his line up for the third One-Day International against India on Thursday, with bowlers Graeme Swann and Ryan Sidebottom both in contention. Nottinghamshire teammates Swann and Sidebottom both last played a One-Day International in the final match of the series against New Zealand in June. “There's food for thought there definitely, but we'll just wait and see,” Pietersen told the England and Wales cricket board website ahead of the match in Kanpur. Swann could partner Samit Patel to provide England's spin option while Sidebottom, who has been suffering with prolonged Achilles problems, would be a contender to take the new ball. Despite trailing India 2-0 in the seven-match series, Pietersen is confident his side can resurrect the form that saw it comfortably beat South Africa 4-0 in the five-match ODIs in September. “I just think we can be competitive and keep improving to get closer and win a couple of games,” he said. “We want to try to win this series because that's what we're here to do.” Cricket returns to Zimbabwe Top-level cricket returns to troubled Zimbabwe from Thursday this week after Sri Lanka sent a 15-player squad to play a series of five One-Day Internationals. The irony is that it was Sri Lanka, as much as any Test nation, which saw the end of Test cricket here four years ago. It was they who, having won two Tests by an innings and more than 200 runs in 2004, were the first to declare they would not play five-day matches against Zimbabwe again. England, New Zealand and Australia quickly followed suit. Zimbabwe was then limited to 50-overs matches against other full members of the ICC plus four-dayers against such as Kenya and Namibia. The last incoming tour of substance here was by Bangladesh 15 months ago and the visitors won all three ODI matches. However, there are signs that Sri Lanka may find the locals rather more than pushovers. They held Mahela Jayewardene's side to a draw in Bulawayo last week and on Monday they skittled the Sri Lankans out for 235 runs in fewer than the allotted 50 overs. Unfortunately heavy rain prevented the home side, Zimbabwe “A”, from batting in reply. The Sri Lankans have sent 15 players to this much troubled country, including, according to Jayewardene, several youngsters gaining experience. But there's plenty of experience, not least Muttiah Muralitharan, who Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss suggested will “go on and on.” The five matches are scheduled for Nov. 20, 22, 24, 28 and 30.
