The current series has witnessed two parallel worlds. The first is the sporting one, in which M.S. Dhoni’s men play matches and the skipper mulls over his selection options. It is also a backdrop that has featured Alastair Cook sneaking in well ahead of Tests, having long chats with coach Peter Moores, doing rapid push-ups and then batting non-stop against throw-downs.
Team-composition dilemmas, the individual drive for perfection, the anticipation that precedes a Test and even the one eye on the whimsical weather, are part of the charms that adorn cricket.
The tricky one is the second, in which the headlines have been grabbed by the James Anderson-Ravindra Jadeja issue and the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) interventions.
Higher stakesThe two worlds might stay separate following the ICC’s closure of the Anderson case. Dhoni and Cook can now look at a bigger canvas when India and England face off in the fourth Test commencing at Old Trafford here from Thursday. There is the fine-print about this being Anderson’s home-ground, but a series that is level at 1-1, does have higher stakes.
India and England have emerging squads searching for building-blocks and chasing longevity in a set of matches that have defied conventions. England batsmen succumbed to Ishant Sharma’s bouncers at Lord’s and the Indians did worse, perishing to Moeen Ali’s spin at Southampton!
The Indian batsmen, perhaps taking a cue from their skipper’s words about tackling Ali positively, have worked on their methods. Virat Kohli has shown a maniacal zeal to fine-tune his sweep with fielding coach Trevor Penney exhorting him: “Get on top, take it on the full.” The others too have worked on that shot but none more than Kohli.
In contrast, Cheteshwar Pujara has been trying to add one more coat of obduracy to his defence besides polishing his leaving-the-ball skill. Together, Pujara and Kohli have to buck their recent downturn. Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane have been India’s best batsmen on this tour but still there is a vulnerability to the line-up due to Shikhar Dhawan’s poor form and Rohit Sharma’s lack of resilience despite his talent.
Ashwin may come backIt remains to be seen if Gautam Gambhir will make a comeback or Dhoni will tinker with his batting order and reassign roles. But change is likely in the bowling unit as R. Ashwin is tipped to get his spot back. Both Gambhir and Ashwin had a long look at the pitch on the eve of the match.
Varun Aaron might come into the mix too and with the pitch supposed to afford better bounce than the surfaces in the earlier Tests, India will miss Ishant. The silver lining though is Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s steady recovery from an ankle injury but the last word will be known only at the toss. Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami has to get his rhythm right.
England, mauled in the Ashes, humbled by Sri Lanka and ambushed at Lord’s, was traumatised ahead of the third Test at Southampton, But Moores’s ‘rediscover the joy of playing’ diktat and the subsequent events — big runs (Cook, Gary Ballance and Ian Bell), potent spells (Anderson and Stuart Broad) and a welcome bonus (Ali’s performance) — that led to the host’s victory, have boosted the squad.
What is unknown is whether the Anderson-Jadeja skirmish will do a ‘Sydney 2008.’ After losing that volatile Test and bracing past the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symond’s clash, India defied predictions and humbled Australia at Perth. There are differences though as back then, the team was strong while the acrimony this time has been moderate and restricted to just two players. It rained on Wednesday morning and that could add another dimension to the conditions.
The teams (from):
India: M.S. Dhoni (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Varun Aaron, Pankaj Singh, Stuart Binny, Ishwar Pandey and Naman Ojha.
England: Alastair Cook (captain), Ian Bell, Gary Ballance, Sam Robson, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Jordan, Steven Finn, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes.
Umpires: Rod Tucker and Marais Erasmus; Third umpire: Richard Kettleborough; Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle.
Play starts at 3.30 p.m. (IST).
