Hales hopes he and Cook can 'feed off each other' to forge strong partnership in ODIs

England opener Alex Hales is hoping to create a strong partnership with captain Alastair Cook in one-day internationals.

England face India in the third ODI at Trent Bridge on Saturday bidding to recover from a 133-run loss in the second ODI at Cardiff, where Hales, on his debut, hit 40 and is set to bat with Cook for only the second time on his home ground.

Hales said that he hopes their games can feed off each other and they can get that partnership going, The BBC reported.

As England seeks to level the five-match series, Hales is bidding to consolidate on his encouraging start. His half-century stand with Cook offset an otherwise miserable performance from the home batsmen.

Cook's ODI record has come under criticism from former England teammate Graeme Swann but Hales has backed his skipper. Hales said that he really enjoyed the start they had and hopes that there are more of those partnerships to come.

Hales said that Cook is a very technically sound guy and he's the right guy at the top of the order. He added that he hopes the skipper will show everyone in this series what he can do.

Hales believes India deserve credit for their skilled and clever bowling last time out but expects them to find it more difficult on a different pitch. He said that the tourists were just very cunning, and added that once he got past 30, they were one step ahead of him.

The batsman feels that it is up to him now to put that right and have that game smartness. He said that England feels a lot more prepared now, and this pitch would be a lot easier to score on and take the game back to the Indian bowlers.

India have suffered a setback ahead of the third ODI with the news that their batsman Rohit Sharma has been ruled out for the rest of the tour of England with a broken finger.

Sharma was injured during India's win on Wednesday and Test opener Murali Vijay has been called up as a replacement, but is unlikely to arrive in time for the ODI at Trent Bridge, the report added.