IndvsEng, 5th Cricket Test: Match Preview

Samarth Srivastava
Published on: 15 Dec 2016 11:57 AM GMT
IndvsEng, 5th Cricket Test: Match Preview
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India vs England, Chennai Test: Match Preview - Will it be 4-0?

Chennai: India would eye to end the things on a high note when it will lock horns with England in the final Test encounter of the five-match at the MA Chidambaram stadium here on Friday. India is leading the series 3-0 while England is struggling since the beginning of the five-match series.

Under the leadership of skipper Virat Kohli, Indian team has played audacious Cricket. Virat is in the form of his lifetime, scoring three double tons in the last three Test series. He has hit 640 runs in the England series so far.

Local boy Murali Vijay, who had hit two tons in the series so far, will leave no stone unturned to play some tremendous Cricket on his home ground while KL Rahul needs to set himself in order to take a seat as a prominent Indian opener. Cheteshwar Pujara has come as a new wall of Indian Cricket. His class is stupendous. Several times his uniqueness in batting has left opponents in great dismay. Karun Nair, so far, failed to impress. But, with the average of more than 50 in domestic Cricket, dropping Nair will never be a healthy deal to make on.

The credit for India leading in the series must also go to the lower batting order which shared partnerships in the crucial point of the games. Be it Jayant Yadav, R Ashwin or R Jadeja, every gun has proved himself a gem. Parthiv Patel has come as a surprise package for Men in White.

With the bowl, Ashwin has proved himself as a top bowler between both the sides bagging 27 wickets in the series so far, ahead of England’s Adil Rashid (22). Jadeja has become a master of providing major breakthroughs.

Pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav would look after the fast bowling department.

For England, Cook is not having some great time both as a batsman and a captain. Cook, however, opened all the doors for Joe Root regarding captaincy in the red ball Cricket, saying, “Root is ready as a skipper.”

England batting is strong on paper. Players are failing in front of Indian spinners. Despite getting fine starts, Root has failed to extend his score into a big one. Cook’s form is raising questions. England would expect some partnerships from Moeen Ali, Bairstow, Stokes and Buttler in order to dominate Indian bowling.

England bowlers including Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, Woakes and Jake Ball would focus on putting final impact in the Test series.

Few records which could be set in the 5th Test:

  • If India surpasses England in the final encounter, it will break its own record of remaining unbeaten in 18 consecutive Tests. Earlier, India was undefeated in 17 Test matches from September 1985 to September 1987.
  • Ashwin needs three wickets to become fastest to reach 250 wickets. Australia’s Dennis Lillee was first doing the same in just 48 matches.
  • The triumph would be marked as India’s ninth Test victory in 2016, a best ever haul, since 2010.
  • England skipper Alaister Cook needs just two runs to become tenth batsman completing 11,000 runs in the Test Cricket.

Injury:

  • India is expected to go with the same squad following the injury of Wriddhiman Saha and Mohammed Shami.
  • England pace spearhead James Anderson has also been ruled for the fifth Test.
  • Stuart Broad could be brought in place of Jimmy.

The pitch:

  • Pitch curator has said that there is dampness in the pitch following the cyclone Vardah.
  • Stacks of coal are being used by the ground staff in order to dry the pitch.
  • Chennai pitch, however, has always remained spin friendly.

Teams

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Manish Pandey, Ravichandran Ashwin, Parthiv Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

England: Alastair Cook (Captain), Keaton Jennings, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Gareth Batty, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Ben Duckett, Steven Finn, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.

Also read: Smith’s latest ton challenges recent ascendancy of Kohli

Samarth Srivastava

Samarth Srivastava

Employed as sub-editor at newstrack.com. A learner, who loves covering sports, entertainment and defence kind of stuff.

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