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After a glorious victory at The Oval, Men in Blue will take on England in the fifth and final Test at Old Trafford from Friday. Having taken an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match series, the tourists have a great opportunity to rewrite the history books.
India last won a Test series in England in 2007 and have never won a series of more than three matches before. Virat Kohli’s men have the skill and the momentum behind them now to change the record.
The fourth Test at The Oval saw India pull off another come-from-behind victory in the series. Just as at Lord’s, India overcame major obstacles at various stages within the game to come out triumphant.
The visitors were 127/7 on Day 1 and were staring down the barrel but still managed to get back in the game and eventually defeated England by a margin of 157 runs on Monday.
For England, it was a case of a fantastic chance missed to take their opposition completely out of the contest in the first couple of days of the Test itself. But their longstanding batting issues once again hurt them, as they couldn’t take an indomitable first-innings lead and then failed to withstand their own for a respectable draw in the final innings.
On the bowling front as well, England missed their premier all-rounder Ben Stokes very badly. With Stokes absent, once their three best pacers James Anderson, Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson were tired, England had to use Craig Overton and Moeen Ali a lot more than they would’ve liked against the free-flowing Indian batsmen.
Nevertheless, with their proud home series record on the line, England may feel inspired heading to Old Trafford, a venue where they’ve never lost to India.
Key Players
Rohit Sharma has been a revelation with the bat on the ongoing tour of England. Even the most wholehearted Sharma supporters wouldn’t have expected him to play as well as he has this summer in England, including the WTC final against New Zealand. His great second-innings hundred at The Oval was a fine example of how he is flourishing as a Test opener.
It was Rohit’s first overseas hundred and an innings reflective of his amazing improvement as a Test player. Rohit has now made 432 runs from 5 Tests this English summer at a highly impressive average of 48. He’ll be eyeing another major score with series honours at stake for the country.
Joe Root, the England captain, is clearly his team’s best batter. Whenever Root has made a sizeable contribution this series and has helped his team cover for their many flaws, they’ve been able to put India under huge pressure.
Root made his third hundred of the series at Headingley, where England won by an innings. But when he faltered with scores of 21 & 36 at The Oval, the three lions suffered a chastening defeat. It highlights England’s dependence on Root’s form and ability with the willow.
Jasprit Bumrah had another memorable Test match outing for India at The Oval where he became the fastest Indian ever to take 100 wickets in the format. Bumrah, playing only his 24th Test, reached his career’s first major milestone a game before the legendary Kapil Dev did.
Bumrah may have only taken four wickets in the game, but he was one of the pivotal figures behind India’s win. He is now India’s top wicket-taker for the series with 18 scalps at an average of just 20.83.
The Indian skipper Virat Kohli may not have produced a giant score in the series so far, but he has played critical innings for his team. In wins at Lord’s and The Oval, Kohli’s first-innings 42 and his second-innings 44, respectively, have proven to be very crucial.
He made a 50 in the first-innings of The Oval Test. Kohli also had batted with fine control for his second-innings 55 in the lost cause at Headingley. Kohli has shown positive signs about his form and rhythm at the crease and could finally break the longstanding century drought in Manchester.
Prediction
The Asian giants have lost four and drawn five of their previous nine Tests at the venue. In these nine Tests, India have failed collectively. They average only 25.23 with the bat and a disastrous 45.58 with the ball.
But things do look brighter this time, with India showing tremendous skill as a bowling unit and finding ways to make timely contributions as a batting unit in challenging conditions.
With momentum on their side as well after the last match’s win, India do look like favourites to end the series with a historic 3-1 series win.
