When India ran off home to prepare for the Indian Premier League ahead of the fifth Test with England last year, few thought they would return 10 months later to conclude the series with both teams under new leadership but that will be the case when Edgbaston opens its doors to the sides on Friday.
Old Trafford was meant to be the host of this match last year but now it has been switched to Edgbaston. Technically this is the series decider with India 2-1 up with this one match to play but whether the teams will see it like that remains to be seen. The match does carry World Test Championship points which gives it some relevance.
England
A year ago England went into the series with India in pretty ordinary form having just been beaten by New Zealand at home. Move things on almost a year and this time England are in fine form having just whitewashed the same opposition under a much more attack minded leadership team and a heavy on aggression approach to the game which has immediately been great to watch, even if it does come with a great deal of risk attached.
The obvious difference between the England of last year and the one which will go into battle here is the ability of the team to score runs. It might not be the traditional method than is associated with Test cricket but it is certainly effective and they come that quickly that there is so much time to force a result so the opposition are immediately under pressure. That makes England very dangerous because we know in their own conditions that they are very solid with the ball.
India
You would imagine that had India not run off home last year they would have won this series. England were in a hole and not really going anywhere at the time but India didn’t stay and it might cost them because they arrive here in a completely different funk to what they was in back then. Virat Kohli captained them then but he has stood down since to be replaced by Rohit Sharma only for him to test positive for Covid which will keep him out of this match.
That leaves Jasprit Bumrah as the skipper and that is interesting because you would imagine if anyone is going to slow down this England batting juggernaut then it will be him. How he reacts to each situation in the field could well determine the outcome of this match but having an inexperienced captain against this almost carefree England side might not be a good thing. India are going to need plenty of runs to win this game you fancy.
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Team News
As has been the case throughout the Ben Stokes’ reign so far, England have already named their XI and there is two changes to the one which won at Headingley last week. Ben Foakes is still feeling the effects of Covid so Sam Billings keeps wicket while Jimmy Anderson returns for Jamie Overton.
India will be without the opening pair which put them in a good position in this series in Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. Shubman Gill has been confirmed as one opener and then the choice is between Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara for the other.
Betting
India have had a warm up match for this deciding game but there wasn’t much that was convincing about their outing at Leicestershire, especially with the bat, and I think that will give England some confidence here. You have to say that on paper this doesn’t look anything like as fearsome a unit as the one India had at their disposal last year and if Virat Kohli doesn’t fill his boots you wonder where the India runs are going to come from.
This is the fortress for England. They always play well at Edgbaston and I expect no different here, especially with the new approach they have taken on. Edgbaston is a good ground for England to thrive on. They are going to get a great atmosphere as ever but the ground dimensions suit them too. If you want to pick a hole in England it is that they have a long tail but the way their middle order is batting I’m not sure that will matter. In conditions which will suit England they look a fair bet even at odds on, against an India team that just doesn’t look as strong as it did last year.
Tips
Back England to beat India for a 3/10 stake at 1.87 with Bet365
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