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.
