England is looking do to something more, better and different than it did in the last two Tests.
After all, the psychological edge it held over India after a solid start at Rajkot, was lost with the match at Vizag. Now it is time for the third Test, starting here on Saturday, and another Indian win will leave England to do the catching up in the remainder of the five-match series.
Given the pitch – less grassy than usual and designed for the ball to grip the rough surface – toss becomes very crucial. Batting first is an obvious choice and Alistair Cook is more desperate than Virat Kohli to put the runs on the board. England’s best chance of levelling the series is by bringing India under the pressure of the scoreboard – much like it did in Rajkot and towards the end, almost embarrassed the Indian team.
A couple of changes in the England line-up appear a certainty. Injured Stuart Broad makes way for Chris Woakes and wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler looks set to replace Ben Duckett. In the spin department, off-spinner Gareth Batty, 39, could well come in for an injured Zafar Ansari. A change in batting order, too, cannot be ruled out.
For India, one certain change from the winning combination at Vizag will be, Parthiv Patel returning to Test cricket after eight years for an injured wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.
Irrespective of the combination, it is common knowledge that Indian spinners could continue to be more effective than the England pace bowlers on this tour. In fact, the off-spin duo of R. Ashwin and Jayant Yadav may have already dented the confidence of the left-handers in the England line-up. Add to it the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja and England’s worries shows no signs of diminishing.
If the surface offers slow and low bounce, England could get into serious trouble. In that case, it will not only negate the impact of its three-man pace attack but also make it difficult for the batsmen to deal with the upbeat Indian spinners.
For England, the next five days will be more about its plans and the execution. Dealing with Virat Kohli and R. Ashwin is obviously part of the plan, but putting a good first innings total is paramount.
On this ground, in the first half of winter, the new-ball bowlers look to bowl longer spells to make the most of the conditions assisting seam movement in the first session. From a batsman’s perspective, the second session of the first day should be the best for batting, with the soft winter sun helping matters.
Last November, in the Test against South Africa, the pitch was prepared for the Indian spinners. Lucky to win the toss, India scored 201 in the first innings and 200 in the second, but won the low-scoring match by a whopping 108 runs inside three days!
Ashwin opened the attack in both innings, took five wickets in the first innings and three in the second. Moreover, Imran Tahir could not more than six wickets in the match and that hurt the South Africans.
Since England is better equipped in the spin department, a similar pitch is ruled out. The lush-green outfield here will also mean the medium pacers have to wait longer and work harder to bring reverse swing into play. In any case, at present, India appears better equipped than England to deal with the challenges.
The teams (from) :
India: Virat Kohli (captain), M. Vijay, K.L. Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, R. Ashwin, Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Karun Nair, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar.
England: Alastair Cook (captain.), Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root, Ben Duckett, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Zafar Ansari, James Anderson, Jos Buttler, Gareth Batty, Steve Finn, Gary Balance and Stuart Broad.
(Match starts at 9.30 am)
