The excellent Test series between England and India concludes this week when the two sides battle for the fifth and final time with Old Trafford the venue for the decisive match of what has been a compelling six weeks of cricket.
I say decisive match but that is only for England. They have to win to level the series after the two terrible performances they have put in at the London venues. India know a draw will secure another famous series win but you get the impression they will want to win the series in style.
England
For the second time in the series, England turned a winning position into a heavy defeat at The Oval. Having bowled the tourists out on the first day and gone past them on the second day they were well placed a take a 2-1 lead to Manchester themselves. They then badly lost their way and saw their 99 run first innings advantage not only whittled away but swamped in the India second innings, leaving England four sessions to bat to salvage a draw from what quickly became a bit of a wreckage.
That is becoming a bit of an issue. For all India were brilliant in the fourth innings and for all the schedule is a nonsense and all the other excuses that England have been able to hide behind, the biggest fear is that they are becoming a weak side, a team that isn’t prepared or able to fight when they going gets tough. That is a reputation they need to nip in the bud quickly because sides will jump all over them otherwise. There will be moments in this match, whatever happens in it, where they need to tough things out and now is the time to do it.
India
It wasn’t the perfect performance by India at The Oval, but so much of sport isn’t about how you start a match it is about how you finish it and the Indians were spot on in their timing with that in mind. When you add in the fact that they were without their coach for the latter part of the match because he was isolating after testing positive for Covid-19, the turnaround was even more remarkable and they deserve plenty of credit for it.
The Indian bowlers really came to the party at The Oval. To be fair, they have bowled well all series, but they cranked it up at The Oval and England had no answer. Firstly they kept their side in the match by restricting England to a lower total than they should have got in the first innings and then they bowled them out in the second one. That same unit will be assigned the task of repeating that display here and if they do that India have an excellent chance to add a bit of gloss on the score.
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Team News
Joe Root has already confirmed that Jos Buttler is returning for this match. He is replacing either Jonny Bairstow or Ollie Pope but if it isn’t the former questions should be asked about this England setup. Mark Wood is expected to play too. He could come in for Craig Overton unless the medics dictate that either Ollie Robinson or Jimmy Anderson are rested.
India may be forced into changes themselves Rohit Sharma finished the match at The Oval on the sides and no confirmation has come out about his fitness. Mayank Agarwal is waiting to replace him if need be. Hanuma Vihari is in line to replace Ajinkya Rahane while Mohammed Shami could also return.
Old Trafford
The Manchester venue is certainly no stranger to hosting Test matches. It has done so on 82 previous occasions with England being involved in 81 of those games. They have won 31 and lost 15 with 35 draws all in all. India have never won here and this will be the tenth time they have graced Old Trafford for a Test match. They have five draws and four defeats on their ledger which might be significant over the five days.
Old Trafford is one of those pitches which has something in it for everyone. It is a good place to bat because the ball comes onto the bat but there is always some pace in it for the seamers while both the seamers and the spinners get plenty of bounce on this track. There are a couple of days where the weather forecast is a little mixed but in the main conditions are expected to be dry although nowhere near as hot as last week.
Betting
With the weather forecast looking different depending on where you look, I’m a little reluctant to get too involved in this match. I have a series interest with KL Rahul 50 or so behind Rohit Sharma which will be a real runner if Sharma isn’t passed fit so I don’t really need to get too stuck into this match. There is one I can’t ignore though because the odds are just all wrong if you ask me, even allowing for the unconvincing preparation that India have had for this match.
It isn’t ideal that they didn’t get to practice on Thursday but it would only have been a light practice day after a couple of intense Test matches in the last couple of weeks anyway. The simple fact is that India have been all over England in this series apart from one bizarre day at Headingley which cost them dearly. Had it not been for the final day rain at Trent Bridge, India would be 3-1 up heading into this match. The difference between these two sides has been evaluated with the bat and the ball. India are stronger in the batting and they might be on a par with the ball but where they dominate England is their willingness to tough it out and fight and to play the big moments under pressure strongly. England wilt at the first sign of the going getting tough and given that India are 13/10 without the draw in play I think they are worthy of support here.
Tips
Back India to beat England (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with William Hill
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