Even as an England fan it is somewhat disappointing not to be heading into this match with something to play for in the series. We have had 2 games where each side took fairly one-sided victories, sandwiched in between 2 very closely fought games which England ultimately came out of on top of. Will England add a cherry to the the top of the cake or will India salvage some pride before the long flight home?
The Oval
This is effectively my local ground and I probably visit the venue 4 or 5 times a year. Last year I was lucky enough to go and see a day's play in the Test between England and South Africa but that was a little earlier in the summer and September is a busy time for me work wise and so I won't be heading back this year.
The Oval is "the other ground" in London. London's premier cricketing venue and the spiritual home of global cricket is Lord's, a bastion of civilised English culture from years gone by. By contrast, the Oval is the noisy neighbour and will generally provide a pretty loud and raucous atmosphere, as this video I shot last year goes to show - if you're going tomorrow, don't sit around nursing your pint otherwise you are in for some serious peer pressure!
The Oval used to have a reputation as being the fastest, bounciest pitch in the country but in recent years it has gotten progressively slower. It does however, remain one of the flattest and truest pitches in England. The likes of Ollie Pope who has played 2 Tests in this series already as well as Rory Burns who is the current highest run scorer in domestic cricket this year both ply their trade for Surrey at the Oval, as does England's new man of the hour, Sam Curran.
In general, I would have thought it is a pitch that should favour India's batsmen. However, as we are now into September it is hard to ignore the role that swing will likely play in this game. You can see already by some of the scores in English domestic cricket this week that the ball is doing a bit. Lancashire & Somerset just played out the first tied game in over a decade with both teams being bowled out for fewer than 100 in an innings. Similarly the games at Worcester, Canterbury and Derby have between them only seen 1 completed innings of 200+. This is not good news for either sides top orders who have struggled against the new, swinging ball throughout.
Weather wise it looks like we shouldn't have any significant stoppages in play. I think it will be a bat first pitch with the potential of some turn as the game goes on. Of course Virat Kohli could really do himself and his teammates a favour by winning the toss for once. His record of 0-4 for the series!
England - No changes to personnel but potential changes to the order
I will write a full blog on the retirement of Alastair Cook later in the month. This being his last Test for England will be an emotional occasion for him as well as many supporters of our international side. Cook has been a true servant of English cricket for well over a decade and it would be great if he could go out on a high. Of course, it won't be easy in a series where no opening batsmen has managed to score even a half-century but let's see if Cook has one last Test innings in him.
With Jennings retained at the top of the order as Cook's partner, the real question remains who will bat at number 3? Rumour has it that Moeen Ali will continue in the role that he started half way through the last Test with Root staying at number 4. I've argued all summer that Root at 4 is the best move for him and the team. However, I'm not sure that Moeen at 3 is the long-term solution for England. My guess is that England are looking to do something similar to what they tried the last time they played Pakistan in the UAE. During that series in 2015, Moeen opened the batting allowing England to play 6 bowlers, just as they will tomorrow and just as they might wish to do against Sri Lanka later this year. The decision to promote Moeen to open didn't really pay off in 2015 as he made a high score of 35 in the 3 match series. Personally I would like to see England retain Moeen as a middle order batsman. The team management seem to have forgotten that he batted well on England's last trip to the sub-continent, scoring 2 centuries and averaging 43 against India. If he were to play in the middle order and England still wanted to bring in a specialist number 3 then that would mean someone would need to give way.
Jonny Bairstow started this series well but since then has scored just 21 runs in 4 innings. He will return to wicket keeping duties in this Test match after his fractured finger was deemed to have healed. He too will benefit from a move down to the number 5 slot but he must show a little more willingness to see himself get in and make a big score after being dismissed to some fairly airy shots recently. It also means that Jos Buttler is likely to revert to a specialist batting role albeit that he may find himself coming in at 7. Can England afford to play both Bairstow and Buttler in the same team when Root has made it clear that he wants to bat at 4? Moeen Ali's willingness to move to 3 may have solved the selection issue in the short-term but ultimately England may need to make a difficult decision over who they back as their keeper batsman. For this Test, with Stokes showing some stickability at the crease, I would like to see England line-up with a middle order of Root (4), Stokes (5), Buttler (6), Bairstow (7).
Bowling wise it will be much of the same. England have given up trying to rest Anderson & Broad as neither player seems to want to miss a game. It's a shame that we haven't seen Jamie Porter get a bowl in this series as I would like to see him tested against top quality opposition. Let's also see if Adil Rashid can get a sustained bowl and take some meaningful wickets on a pitch that I am sure will show signs of wear later in the game.
India - A divided dressing room?
This is an important game for India and the immediate future of some of the players in the team. There have been increasing rumours of a disgruntled India camp over the last few days. There has been constant chopping and changing of the playing 11 with the last Test representing the first time in 38 games as captain that Kohli had stuck by the same team in consecutive matches. Indeed, 2 anonymous players have made some fairly telling comments to the Indian media, with one stating
Kohli is a good man and wants the best for the team and doesn’t mean to create it but the changes make you doubt yourself.
And another suggesting the constant changes lead to
You start to second guess. You then start feeling you are on your own here
Keeping the dressing room united will be a real test of Kohli as a captain, something that I mentioned in my previous piece - The Man Who Won Every Battle But Lost The War. These types of games can be very difficult for a touring team. India have been in the British Isles (they played Ireland in June) for close to 3 months and with the series already lost a few of the players might already be thinking about the plane ride home to see friends and family. A positive start to the game for India is absolutely crucial otherwise their morale could quickly subside.
It seems likely though that Kohli will again make changes to the side. At the very least, Ravi Ashwin played very little part in the recent training sessions, prompting observers to suggest that Jadeja will be called up as a replacement. Let's not forget that India's slow left-armer is still ranked No. 3 in the world at present (higher than Ashwin) and has a particular knack for getting under the skin of several of the England players.
Other questions India must answer include whether they will stick with the same opening combination. Wonderkid Prithvi Shaw was flown over to replace Murali Vijay a few weeks ago and India could decide to give him a debut at the expense of either Dhawan or Rahul. There is also talk of Hanuma Vihari being added to the middle order potentially in place of Hardik Pandya who has failed to inspire confidence in either his batting or bowling during the series so far. Scoring runs in the lower middle order has been a real problem for India as I showed in the graphic in this blog and so Hanuma Vihari's inclusion would be an attempt to solve this issue. I have to admit that whilst I have researched and written about Shaw on this and several others platforms, I have very little knowledge of Hanuma Vihari. However, if his numbers in first class domestic cricket are anything to go by then he will be a special talent
First Class Ave: 59.79
100s/50s: 15/24
High Score: 304
Achievements:
Top Scorer Ranji Trophy 17/18
Best first class average of any current player worldwide
While there may be criticism of Kohli for changing the side with such regularity, I don't think that it is a bad thing to give a couple of youngsters a chance in this match. At the very least it will add some intrigue to the game as I for one am very keen to watch Prithvi Shaw play at the highest level and to get to learn about Hanuma Vihari. The selection of those 2 players might also just add that little bit of urgency that India will need to be competitive in this dead rubber both from the 2 players themselves but also from the senior pros as they watch nervously over their shoulders at the next batch of young talent off the Indian production line.
How do you see this final match going? Will India come out fighting or slink back home on the back of a 4-1 defeat?
Comments