Samit Patel has insisted England are firmly focused on exacting revenge over Pakistan by inflicting an ODI whitewash in the series in the United Arab Emirates.

After suffering an embarrassing three-nil defeat in the Tests, England now want to return the favour by winning all four ODIs. The tourists have already won the first match by 130 runs on Monday and Patel acknowledged that the goal is to take the winning momentum into Wednesday's second ODI.

"We're looking to absolutely nail this series, to beat them four-nil, whitewash them - obviously a bit of payback for the Test series. It would be a great achievement. That would be fantastic. We've got to aim high," said Patel.

"The boys are geared up for it; we know exactly what it's going to take."

After losing their last ODI series five-nil in India last year, the Nottinghamshire spinner admitted a whitewash over Pakistan could do a lot to improve England's dwindling reputation in limited-overs cricket.

"It has been a tough period that we've had, but you've got to take the ups and downs really and move forward - and we're doing that right now," he added.

"Unfortunately, we didn't go too well in India - but we've got to look forward now, and this series is key to put a bit of a marker down playing in the sub-continent and well against spin."

Meanwhile, England's domestic season currently sees the counties playing 40-over cricket, but the 27-year-old believes they should return to the more traditional 50-over format in order to improve the performances of the national team.

"I think the right preparation would be to go 50-over cricket in England, if we're going to prepare for the next World Cup. I think 50-over cricket is crucial, and I don't see any point in playing the 40-over format if we're going to be playing 50 in the World Cup," he said.

"At the moment we're sticking to a 40-over format, which attracts a lot of crowds. People say the 50-over format is dead. But I think if we're looking for the bigger picture, towards the next World Cup, 50-over cricket should come back."