After winning the first Test in Ahmedabad, the hosts were outplayed by England in the next two matches in Mumbai and Kolkata and will be looking for their first series win in India since 1985.

The visitors will be now filled with confidence by outplaying the hosts with both ball and bat in last two test games in Mumbai and Kolkata, after opening the campaign in a depressed manner of losing in Ahmedabad. Alastair Cook is in shining form having scored 548 runs in six innings with Kevin Pietersen, Jonathon Trott and Matt Prior there for his support. English bowling department is dominated by spinners Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann but Steve Finn and James Anderson showed in Kolkata that the pacers can make an impact under the favorable conditions. The probable English squad will include: 1 Alastair Cook, 2 Nick Compton, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Kevin Pietersen, 5 Ian Bell, 6 Samit Patel, 7 Matt Prior, 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Graeme Swann, 10 James Anderson, 11 Monty Panesar.

Under-performing senior players in the Indian line-up, including skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and veteran batsman Sachin Tendulkar, are under severe pressure not only to lift the side with supreme personal efforts but also to save their careers after India's spineless displays at the Wankhede Stadium and the Eden Gardens.

Indian openers Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag have been pretty casual in their approach thus far, in stark contrast to the grinding efforts of rival skipper Alastair Cook, England's top batsman in the series, and rookie Nick Compton, who has slowly and steadily found his feet after a nervous debut in Ahmedabad's opening Test.

On the other hand, India has now the last chance to level the series with a sure victory otherwise they will lose the trophy in their own land. Pragyan Ojha will prove to be crucial for the Indian side, he has been their best player so far and now needs to perform brilliantly to support his team at its way towards victory.  The likely Indian lineup will include: 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Ajinkya Rahane, 7 MS Dhoni, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Pragyan Ojha.

Trailing the buoyant visitors 1-2 in the rubber after being outplayed in the second and third encounters at Mumbai and Kolkata, the home players need to sort themselves out on several fronts to level the series at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha.

The middle order has been pathetic with only Cheteshwar Pujara showing spunk in the first two Tests before going off the boil.

Someone like Virat Kohli, who was the best batsman for the team in Australia, has fallen away so much to casual shots that he has mustered a pathetic 85 runs in six innings, an indication of the malaise afflicting the team.

To give an impetus to the non-performing middle order, the Indian selectors have chopped the under-performing Yuvraj Singh from the squad and brought in the in-form Ravindra Jadeja and the Saurashtra all-rounder is set to make his Test debut.

Jadeja can certainly complement the style of Ojha and the off-spin of Ravichandran Ashwin, who has not looked the part of a Test bowler except in the closing stages of the Kolkata game when he concentrated on sticking to a correct line and limiting his variations to the minimum.


While Cook has led from the front with aplomb, the other leading batsmen have rallied around him, with top batsman Kevin Pietersen playing the defining knock in the Mumbai Test and Matt Prior and Compton playing the supporting roles with panache.

The bowlers too have delivered and it is not only the spinners Monty Panesar (16 wickets in 2 Tests) and Graeme Swann (17 in 3). The fast bowlers James Anderson and fit-again Steven Finn have also proved their worth by using reverse swing to telling effect in Kolkata.

India have also dropped the out-of-form Zaheer Khan and replaced him with Delhi pacer Parvinder Awana.

But Ishant Sharma and Ashok Dinda, yet to play his first Test, appear to be the two first-choice pacers for the hosts and Awana may have to wait for his chance.

They can sit on the 2-1 lead by playing for a draw, but it's fraught with danger and captain Cook has responded in a similar fashion after the team's victory in the third match.



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