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| Had India, who've now won just one of their last 18 Tests on foreign soil, been offered the chance to arrive at The Oval 2-1 down with one to play in this five-match series before their tour started, they might have taken up the offer. A tightly-packed schedule of five Tests in the space of 42 days has done India few favours as they head to south London for the start of the series finale on Friday. India Just a few weeks ago, India beat England by 95 runs in the second Test at Lord's to go 1-0 up in the series, but that success was sealed by fast bowler Ishant Sharma exploiting England's over-eagerness to show that they are not afraid to play the short ball. Ishant Sharma ended with a Test-best return of seven for 74, guiding his side to a historic win. Since then, Sharma has missed both India's 266-run defeat in the third Test at Southampton and their even more crushing innings and 54-run loss in the fourth Test at Old Trafford last week with a leg injury. India, however, have got a big boost with lanky paceman Ishant Sharma being fit for the final game. The team management however face a selection dilemma on whether to retain some of the out-of-form players like Ravindra Jadeja or try out the bench strength. Jadejas place has come under threat after the insignificant role he played at Manchester. His presence as a fifth bowler might have been desired but his batting has tipped the scales towards Stuart Binny, who has shown the promise to be a lot more considerate in his approach. Despite losing inside three days in Manchester, India did again make England's batsmen look decidedly jumpy when confronted with the short ball to the extent that all-rounder Stuart Broadsuffered a broken nose trying to hook Varun Aaron when the ball found its way between the peak of his helmet and the grille. But the Oval is not the fast pitch it once was or indeed Old Trafford currently is. If it stays true to recent type, a slow low surface should remind India of home but will also make the job of 'bouncing out' England that much more difficult. The biggest recent problem for an India side coached by former England boss Duncan Fletcher has been their batting, as exemplified by the team's struggles to barely get beyond 150 in both innings at Old Trafford. No one has exemplified their batting difficulties better than the talented Virat Kohli, who has so far scored only 108 runs this series at an average of 13.5. But it was the manner of India's collapse, which saw nine wickets lost after tea on Saturday that was perhaps the most concerning aspect of the Old Trafford debacle. Binny and R Ashwin batted in the nets while Jadeja was conspicuously absent from slip-catching practice. Rohit Sharma loitered around, getting a hit very late. India appear set to play five bowlers again, without changing around too much. England Alastair Cook's men still have problems to address as well as their bouncer issues, particularly the extent of the gap between the threat of the new-ball pairing of Stuart Broad and James Anderson and back-up seamers Chris Woakes and Chris Jordan. Anderson now needs just eight wickets to surpass Ian Botham's England Test record of 383 and Broad will be keen to follow up his man-of-the-match effort in taking six for 25 in India's first innings in Manchester. If Broad is not fit, or England decide to drop either Woakes or Jordan, then rejuvenated Middlesex fast bowler Steven Finn is waiting in the wings. Someone who has proved a thorn in India's side throughout the series is spin-bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali, who has taken 19 wickets at under 23 apiece. From England's point of view, Stuart Broad, who suffered a broken nose at Old Trafford, is expected to play. The England all-rounder is slated to undergo knee surgery shortly and this might force him into an early rest straight after the Test series. That aside, England hardly have any problems to ponder over. If at all, there is a concern over the form of opener Sam Robson. There have been calls to replace him and test a fresh face in that position. But such has been the momentum gained by the hosts that they have keenly handed him another chance. That England, who had gone 10 Tests without a win before their Southampton success, now have to worry about complacency is a welcome change. Quotes 'We know India are going to come very hard at us, and we'll have to make sure we've got all bases covered and not be caught off guard,' Joe Root. 'There were was no backbone shown by India. They showed no determination, the dismissals were soft, there were no great deliveries, England were just persistent,' Sunil Gavaskar. | |
| Teams: | |
| India (From): Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma, Pankaj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Ishwar Pandey, Stuart Binny, Naman Ojha | |
| England (From): Alastair Cook(c), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler(w), Chris Jordan, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Chris Woakes, Steven Finn |
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