AS ALWAYS, ALL GENUINE COMMENTS WILL RECEIVE AN UPVOTE
Advantage England then, after 2 Tests and with 3 to play, the home side know that a win at Trent Bridge will hand them the series against the number 1 team in the world. For India, questions have been raised about their techniques and preparation for this series. The short time in between Tests will not provide them with a chance to improve on those techniques or take part in any practice games so it is really only the batsmen's mental approach and application at the crease that can improve. India can do better with the bat than what've seen so far, if they are willing to grit it out and at times play within themselves. However, they will once again have to overcome the threat posed by James Anderson and the swinging Duke ball. Can they pull themselves back from the brink of defeat and become only the 2nd side in Test history to win from being 2-0 down in a series?
Trent Bridge - A ground with good memories for both sets of players
For the home side Trent Bridge has generally been a strong hold for both Test cricket and white ball cricket. Earlier in the year England's 50 over team beat their own world record (that had also been set at Trent Bridge) by hammering 481-6 against the Australians. In Test match cricket as well, despite losing last summer to South Africa, England have won 6 and drawn 1 of the other Tests played on this ground in the last decade. The draw though was against the Indian side of 2014 who managed over 800 runs, led by a superb hundred from Murali Vijay on the opening day - what India wouldn't give for that sort of performance from their batsmen again this time around! Or perhaps more specifically what wouldn't they give for England to prepare a pitch like that from 2014 that was described by the ICC as “poor” and of “an unacceptable standard for Test cricket”. Let's not forget that the 2014 pitch was so slow that Jimmy Anderson made a career best 81 on it as he and Joe Root put on a World Record 198 for the 10th wicket. Regardless of how poor that pitch was, the Indian batsmen can at least take some comfort from those memories.
However, what they perhaps won't take comfort from is that Trent Bridge is known as a swinging ground. In fact, if before the series started you had asked me which of the grounds would most suit England's bowlers I would have said Trent Bridge. Much like Headingley the conditions at Trent Bridge can often change within a match. When the sun is out Trent Bridge can be a flat, true surface with good pace and carry where batsmen should fill their boots. Yet, once the sun goes behind a cloud the ball can suddenly start hoping all over the place and the advantage is very much with the bowlers. Whats more, research and recent results tend to suggest that since the re-development of Trent Bridge in 2008 that culminated in a new stand being built the ground has favoured swing even more! The construction of the new stand means Trent Bridge is now a fully enclosed ground which allegedly leads to the creation of a 'micro-climate' in which less air escapes and more circulates, creating a warmer, thicker atmosphere. This in turn increases the level of friction that the ball sustains as it moves through the air allowing for increased swing.
As it is the weather forecast for this game looks much better than the match at Lord's. There may be a bit of cloud around on Saturday morning but it looks like that will burn off after lunch. On Day 2 (Sunday) there is a chance of showers throughout the afternoon, but let's hope we get lucky and they miss the ground. I imagine there will be a green tinge to the pitch on the first morning but whether that and overhead conditions will prompt either captain to bowl first remains to be seen. From Joe Root's perspective, he may feel that putting the Indian top order back under the pump straight away could present an opportunity to finish this game and the series pretty quickly but it's always a risk to send the opposition in and of course it could leave England batting last against a bowler of Ashwin's skill and guile. From Virat Kohli's perspective, bowling first may allow his team to feel their way into the game a bit more - you can't win a game on the first morning but you can go a long way towards losing it! Whatever he decides, India must start this game well. They were behind from the 5th ball of the 1st innings at Lord's ,when Anderson bowled Vijay, and they never recovered from there. With their confidence already fragile, India need to get ahead of the game, gain some momentum and put England on the back foot.
India Team Selection - Problems at the top and balance with the bowling
It was Vijay, Dhawan & KL Rahul for the 1st Test then Vijay, KL Rahul & Pujara for the 2nd Test. Will India shuffle their top 3 again for the game tomorrow? Rumour has it that Dhawan will be brought back in to the side at the expense of KL Rahul. India fans might argue that if that is the case then they have finally been given their best top 3 at the 3rd time of asking. Certainly KL Rahul has struggled to adapt to conditions and hasn't yet shown the kind of temperament that would suggest he's about the turn it around. I showed in my analysis of the 4th Day's play at Lord's the problem that James Anderson has posed to India's openers in particular. They simply don't know which way the ball is going to swing and Anderson was just toying with them in the helpful conditions of the 2nd Test. At least Pujara at 3 showed some will to try and stick it out in the 2nd innings despite eventually being undone by Stuart Broad. Someone in the top 5 needs to play a big innings preferably alongside Virat Kohli who has declared himself fit for the match despite suffering a back injury in the 2nd Test.
Observers of India's practice sessions have suggested that Rishabh Pant has done the bulk of the keeping preparation and could be in line to make his Test debut at Trent Bridge. Karthik, who took a painful blow to the finger in the 2nd Test, has been poor with the bat since being reinstatement to the Test side after an 8 year absence. In the 5 innings he has played since his recall, he has managed just 25 runs total. Pant whom I suggested might be a player to make an impact at some point in the series, came to prominence in the IPL. What he doesn't bring with him is the kind of baggage and mental scars that most of India's other batsmen have from previous tours of England. Could he have the youthful vigour mixed with explosive power that could win India the game in Nottingham?
It also seems likely that India will change up their bowling line-up for the 3rd Test with a seamer to be added in place of Kuldeep Yadav. Jasprit Bumrah was not said to be match fit for Lord's despite overcoming an injury that has kept him out of all formats since the tour began. However, Kohli has suggested in interviews leading up to the match that Bumrah is now ready and he could come back into the side. If it is the case then I am keen to see how he bowls in Test match cricket. I have seen plenty of Bumrah in the IPL and his yorkers and slower ball variations are well known and very effective in that form of cricket. He certainly doesn't lack for pace and his aggressive bowling in his first 3 Tests (all played in South Africa earlier this year) brought him 14 wickets.
England - Somebody had to miss out
England's top order have not actually done much better than India's. However, the luxury of having won 2 Tests on the bounce means that Cook and Jennings will continue at the top. Both could do with getting some runs though and while India's batsmen have struggled the likes of Shami in particular has looked as dangerous as anyone with the ball.
With Ben Stokes acquitted of the charges of affray earlier in the week and added straight back into the Test squad, it seemed likely that England would make a change. There was talk that he might come in for Ollie Pope with Bairstow being bumped up to 4 and Stokes batting 5. There was even a rumour that he might play in place of Adil Rashid who contributed nothing with either ball or bat in the 2nd Test. However in reality it was only ever likely to be a straight swap between Stokes and either Curran or Woakes. In the end the England selectors decided that the junior man in Sam Curran would be the one to make way. It will be disappointing for Curran who, was named man of the match at Edgbaston, to have missed out. England will miss his youthful exuberance and raw aggression with both bat and ball as well as the variety that he adds as a left arm bowler. But with Stokes a player of rare Test pedigree and having already had an influence on the series by bowling England to victory in the 1st Test he could not be left on the sidelines again. Despite his court case coming to an end, Stokes is still likely to have to face a disciplinary investigation from the ECB which was stopped 11 months ago while the criminal investigation by police carried on. There will be those who say that Stokes has suffered enough already having missed all of England's tour to Australia as well as having been stripped of the vice-captaincy as a result of the fight outside a Bristol night club. From England and Stokes point of view, it is now time to concentrate on cricket and getting back to what he does best - winning matches for England.
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