The Fourth and the final match of the India-England Test series will begin tomorrow at Nagpur. It is hard to believe what has happened in the previous three matches for an Indian fan. The series which was to be India’s revenge for the embarrassing loss last year has turned out to be even more humiliating for the Indian team.
No one expected England to do so well in the series, England were thrashed by Pakistan not so long ago in UAE and the same result was predicted here. Cricketing Pundits said that it will be an achievement for the Englishmen if they could avoid a white-wash. The statement made sense after the Ahmedabad Test, but everything has changed since then.
India have lost two consecutive Tests, the first time since 1999. England are leading 2-1 and can’t lose the series. India on the other hand are on the brink of a series loss. No matter what happens in Nagpur, this series will have a serious impact on the future of Test cricket in India.
Coming to the Nagpur Test, it will only be fair to say that England are favorites to win this match. It is quite unbelievable to see India enter a match as under-dogs in home conditions. India have always been dominating on home soil, they have tormented some of the best captains and the best teams of recent era, but not this time.
There will be tremendous pressure on all eleven Indians that will walk out on the field tomorrow. It is going to be a very big challenge for Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this man. Reports have suggested that the Nagpur pitch is not a rank-turner and the Indian team will have to go past that fact and play well.
The major difference between England and India has been that Indian batsmen have wasted the starts that they have got in the previous two Tests. England team have got some huge partnerships over the past two matches, whereas India have just missed opportunities. In both innings of Kolkata Test Indian batsmen got starts, but they got out in 40s, 50s and 70s. Someone from top four will have to score a big hundred for India to put a good score in Nagpur.
Dhoni’s laid-back attitude has cost India dearly in the past few tours. He just waits for the opposition to make the mistakes and never takes any initiative. There have been some huge partnership against India in recent times and some blame should go to the captain. He needs to be ahead of the game rather than waiting for things to happen.
Dhoni will be hoping that his spinners will finally rise up to the occasion.
R Ashwin has been ordinary with the ball. He has struggled from the first match. Ojha too has bowled good only in patches and as a team the two spinners have been a big letdown.
It will be exciting to see the replacements of Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh. Parwinder Awana has done brilliantly for Delhi and he might get to play his first match. Ravindra Jadeja is also expected to make his debut in the match. He is a handy left-arm spinner and that might give him the edge over some of the other batsmen waiting in the wings.
England team will be looking to play the way they played in the last two matches.
Their team looks settled and have a lot of variety. Almost all of their top order batsmen have got one good innings. Ian Bell too made a good looking 20 in the previous match and that would give him a lot of confidence.
Their bowling attack is in scintillating form. Both Swann and Panesar have been among wickets. Their fast bowlers James Anderson and Steven Finn looked lethal in the previous match.
All the eyes will be on the Nagpur Test in the next 4-5 days as this match holds much more importance than just a series decider, especially for the Indian team.
By Indian Sports News Network
Tags:
indian sports news
ms dhoni
pragyan ojha
r ashwin
ravindra jadeja
yuvraj singh
zaheer khan
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