4th Test Preview: England ride on momentum, India seek turnaround after Headingley horror

Past the halfway stage, the ongoing Test series between England and India has been living up to the expectations of being a “box office” stuff as Virat Kohli has been reiterating. 

From the topsy-turvy ride at Trent Bridge that did not produce any result due to bad weather to a fierce battle between the sides at Lord’s that India won in an emphatic manner riding on fiery bowlers and passionate captain. The magnitude of defeat was telling on England and skipper Joe Root stuttered in the defence of his side as critics began to write the hosts off from the series.

Then, as a buoyant India took a courageous step to bat first in the third Test, the hosts created a “perfect storm” as skipper Root suggested after the end of a fairly one-sided game to blow India away and come roaring back in the series.

Now, the tables have turned and it’s the Virat Kohli’s men who face the moment of reckoning and scepticism from critics about their ability to play swinging balls and win more than one game in this part of the world.

India were on a rampant ride after an impressive performance in the first and winning the second Test. However, the massive loss at Headingley has ripped all the faultlines of the side open in front of the crowd and critics. 

They suffered monumental collapses in both the innings which have been emerging as a perennial issue and if the next two Tests don’t go as they have had the aim of, there will be obituaries of careers at the end of the series.

England, on the other hand, were relying only on the bat of Joe Root and fingers of James Anderson before all cog of the wheels came into perfect place at Headingley. They were forced to make changes in the side and all of them provided them with perfect performances to produce one of the best wins they have had in the past few years.

 The return of Haseeb Hameed to the top of the order with Rory Burns paved the way for the middle order which was only strengthened by a confident Dawid Malan who batted with no insecurity to leave little or hint of returning to the longest format after three long years.

All said and done, England would be wary of a resounding Indian come back and hence Root has underlined consistency as key for England and has asked his teammates to build on a massive win at Headingley. They have the better complete team at the disposal albeit with some chinks in the armour and Root and his men would do harm to their fortunes by downplaying an Indian resurgence.

India though need quite a bit of reset in both the batting and bowling department. Root has churned out three centuries from three Tests without breaking any sweat and the bowling coach Bharat Arun must step in to enforce bowlers into bowling fuller length to Root. 

They would be disappointed for not extracting any movement from the Headingley pitch where the duo of Anderson and Robinson made merry against their batting mates. 

England vs India: Match Details

Match Number- 04

Date and Time: September 02-06, 2021, 3:30 pm IST, 10:30 Local, 10:00 IST

Venue: Kennington Oval, London

Broadcast and Live Stream: SonyLIV, Sony Six

Pitch and weather

The Oval is considered the best batting-friendly wicket in England, which also provides some assistance to spinners in the latter part of the game, and the pitch for the fourth Test is unlikely to be any different. Among all the England grounds that have hosted five Tests in the recent past, the Oval has produced bets number of spinners.

 In the five Tests played here, spinners have claimed 50 wickets at an average of 29.1 runs per wicket— a full two percentage points above the pacers’ average of 31.8 in as many matches. However, they have taken 123 wickets which can not be a no-factor in England.

However, having seen their bowler running riots among Indian batsmen, the hosts would be eager to have a pitch that has at least some pace and bounce to enable edged of the bats to carry through to the slips and the wicketkeeper. The pitches so far in the series have been slower in nature, and the trend is likely to be continued at the Oval as well.

The weather can play a spoilsport at the Oval with the chances of rain on the third and fourth day ranging between 25 per cent to 65 per cent. Even the last scheduled day of the game can be spoilt with a 12 per cent of chance of rain as per Accuweather.

Team News

England

England were at their best in the last game but they will have to make some changes with the return and departure of key players. 

Jos Buttler has left the squad on paternity leave, leaving Jonny Bairstow to take the wicketkeeping gloves. It also opens an opportunity in the middle order for the likes of Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence and the former is the likeliest choice of the team management.

They are also ecstatic with the return of Chris Woakes, who was their player of the summer last year. His return will see the departure of Sam Curran, who has struggled with the bat so far in the series while Woakes’ tremendous skills with the ball do not deserve any comparison with Curran.

Mark Wood, who missed the Headingley Test due to a shoulder injury, is fit to play and might replace Craig Overton, who played his part almost perfectly in the last game.

England would have loved to give Anderson a break after playing him in all the Tests of the series so far but the absence of Stuart Broad and Woakes’ immediate entry to the side doesn’t give the team management that luxury. 

Probable XI

Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (C), Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, James Anderson

India

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has been preferred over Ravichandran Ashwin more for his batting, was injured while fielding and was sent for a scan. There is no clarity on the extent of his injury and in case he gets ruled out, the door will finally open for Ashwin as India are unlikely to go in an Oval Test without a spinner.

They also have to ponder over a big question of fragility in the batting order. Cheteshwar Pujara’s brilliant 91 guarantees him a place in the playing XI while the form of Ajinkya Rahane, who has gone back into a slump after good innings in the second innings at Lord’s, and Rishabh Pant will worry them. 

Pant’s critics have argued that the number six position is one place too high or the swashbuckling left-hander and that India must play a batsman at number six that will reinstate him at number seven. Skipper Kohli has already rejected “that balance” saying it limits the team’s chances of winning a Test match.

There are also talks calling for the exclusion of Rahane from the side but Kohli has always been deaf to what he and the team call “outside noise” and hence India are unlikely to change their batting order at the Oval.

Ishant Sharma, who looked off colour at Headingley is all but out of the fourth Test and the composition of the bowling attack will depend on how the management sees the pitch. 

There are chances of playing both Jadeja and Ashwin with just three pacers or if Jadeja doesn’t pass the fitness test, Kohli will have to take a tough call of weakening the batting further by playing the fourth pacer in Shardul Thakur or an extra batsman in Hanuma Vihari.

Probable XI

KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

Fantasy XI

Rishabh Pant, Joe Root(C), KL Rahul (VC), Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj