England hope for the familiar in Punjab as they hint at team changes

Jos Buttler trained with the wicket-keeping gloves while Craig Kieswetter took boundary catches. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

England awoke in Punjab to a rejuvenating freshness. For reasons known only to the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the last two matches of this one-day series have been taken to the far north – first Chandigarh, where the daytime temperature in January is a pleasant 15C, and finally the Himalayan hill station of Dharamsala, where the captains Alastair Cook and MS Dhoni may make history next Sunday morning by tossing up below freezing point.

Dhoni has already described the first international at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Stadium, which is situated 1457m (4,110 feet) above sea level and where the temperature just before the 9am start is forecast to be -1C, as a journey into the unknown, stressing it is "crucial" that his team clinch the series in the more familiar surroundings of Mohali on Wednesday. But the conditions at the handsome ground of the Punjab Cricket Association should suit England far more than those they have encountered so far in Rajkot, Kochi and Ranchi, especially in this first ODI to have been played here so early in the year, in the depth of winter.

Punjab have apparently played on green seamers for most of the Ranji Trophy season at Mohali, with their captain Harbhajan Singh content to play a supporting role, and the pitch for Wednesday's game looked encouragingly emerald when England arrived for their first practice session. It will not quite be Derby in April – in England's only previous ODI here, they made 298 for four, with Jonathan Trott scoring an unbeaten 98 off 116 balls and Samit Patel 70 off 43, but India won by five wickets with five balls to spare. Jade Dernbach went for 69 from his 10 overs and Tim Bresnan 62 off 7.2.

The toss could be crucial, as it turned out to be in Ranchi at the weekend, when India's impressive young seamers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shami Ahmed exploited some helpful early nip to take key wickets. They had also caused England problems in Kochi, Kumar bowling his 10 overs straight through for figures of three for 27. The uncomfortable truth for the England seamers is that so far in this series, they have been out-bowled by a pair of 22-year-olds from rural Uttar Pradesh, neither of whom had made an international appearance this time last month.

India's rookies have not worried too much about variety or hostility, just "held length and line really well", in the words of England's coach Ashley Giles. Chris Woakes would seem the bowler in this England squad most likely to replicate those qualities. But Stuart Meaker is certainly due a chance after spending 10 weeks touring 10 Indian cities since being called into the Test squad when Steve Finn was struggling with a back problem last November, but so far playing in only the two Twenty20 internationals before Christmas.

There was a hint at practice that England will make at least one change when Jos Buttler wore the wicket-keeping gloves while his Somerset team-mate Craig Kieswetter joined Dernbach and Meaker taking boundary catches. Buttler also had a long session batting in the nets watched by Graham Gooch and Kevin Pietersen, the latter clearly relishing his role as a senior professional in this predominantly young squad.