Leeds United Kingdom: England all-rounder Moeen Ali said watching India’s Suresh Raina had encouraged him to maintain an attacking approach to batting in one-day internationals.

Ali’s 67 — his team’s first fifty of the series — was the lone highlight for England in their nine-wicket thrashing by world champions India in Birmingham on Tuesday.

That defeat saw England go down to a 3-0 one-day international series loss ahead of Friday’s finale in Leeds.

The match marked Ali’s series debut and his first ODI in England.

But in his role as a squad member he paid close attention to the way India batsman Raina made 100 in the tourists’ 133-run win in the second ODI in Cardiff after the team had been struggling at 19 for two.

“Watching someone like Suresh Raina, they were in trouble and he came out and played the way he played,” Ali told reporters at Headingley on Thursday.

“He took a few risks and they came off. He backed himself.

“I tried to copy it a little a bit,” added Ali, who could well be promoted up the order from number seven on Friday.

“It’s something I go back to a lot and probably should do all the time,” the 27-year-old off-spinning all-rounder added.

“Take it to them, there is no point in being the same and getting out the same way all the time,” he explained.

“I’d rather get caught on the boundary or stumped trying to do something then try and knock it around all the time.”

Some pundits have tried to explain England’s poor one-day form — they have now lost five out of their last six ODI series — by citing the huge emphasis the English game puts on Test cricket.

But Ali, asked if the team “cared” about one-day cricket, replied: “Definitely. It doesn’t even cross our minds [not to].”

Anyone at Edgbaston on Tuesday could have been forgiven for thinking India were the home side, such was the vocal and visible support for the tourists from at least two-thirds of the crowd.

Ali, despite being Birmingham-born, even found himself being booed by some supporters.

“It doesn’t really bother me. I just go out and block it out and try and play as best as I can,” he said.

“Obviously the noise for the India players was a lot more than ours but it doesn’t bother me one bit, he said.

As for the jeers, Ali added: “It just goes straight over my head. I think it’s maybe because my background is from Pakistan but it doesn’t bother me.”

Ali, a practising Muslim, reiterated his call for British-born Asians to support England, saying it was odd to hear Birmingham voices cheering on India.

“Definitely — and they’ve got a Brummy [Birmingham] accent or whatever and some of the chants are English chants.

“But it’s just the way it is, hopefully over time we can change.

“I spoke to a lot of people and there were a lot of Asians there who were supporting England as well.

“But, obviously, the majority were supporting India.”

Cook backing

Meanwhile Ali insisted that whatever the outside pressures, the team were rock-solidly behind Alastair Cook in his role as England one-day captain.

Cook came through a tough examination of his leadership credentials during England’s 3-1 Test series win at home to India.

But former England captain Michael Vaughan has insisted he should be sacked as one-day skipper if the team are to have any chance at a World Cup in Australia and New Zealand now just six months away.

“He’s been the same as he was [in the Tests],” Ali said. “He’s been Cooky, trying to get everyone playing well, trying to do well for himself and I’m sure tomorrow [Friday] he can do that and play well.

“He’s got all our backing and, like any other game for England, we’re trying to do our best.”

Meanwhile, Ssries already in their pocket, a rampaging India will look to keep the foot on the pedal and press for a clean sweep when they take on England in the fifth and final cricket one-dayer on Friday.

In a remarkable turnaround following their humiliation in the preceding Test series, India have called the shots in the ODI series, in which England have struggled to match the visitors be it batting, bowling or fielding.

After the first game was washed out, world champions India have asserted their supremacy in the ODI format by taking 3-0 lead to pocket the five-match series, which is their first in England since 2002, if the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy is neglected on account of a multi-team tournament.

In fact that 2002 win was a tri-series win as well with Sri Lanka as third participants. You have to go back all the way to 1990 for a bilateral ODI series win by India in England, when they took the Texaco Trophy 2-0.

The common thread between that series win and the current one is Ravi Shastri. He was still playing for India in 1990 while this time around he has been involved as the director of cricket.

The other vital point being that Mohammad Azharuddin was captain of the Indian team back then. And Mahendra Singh Dhoni has just gone past his record for the maximum ODI wins as Indian captain.

Both Shastri and Dhoni will look to end this series on a winning note.