Can lackluster India prevent white-wash? (Preview)

All the talk of a titanic clash between India and England during the English summer has ended in a whimper as it has been one-way traffic all the way in the three Tests so far. A hat-trick of loses and MS Dhoni’s side has been dislodged from the top of ICC test rankings, something that was not expected at the start of the series. The home team, at the same time, has achieved a long cherished dream of being the best Test side in the world.

India’s performance in England so far can be labeled as dismal. Simply put, they have not lived upto the billing, not that they lost but they have not played in a manner befitting a champion side. It has been a meek surrender- the ‘star-studded’ batting line-up blown away every time, the bowlers never look like taking 20 wickets and the fielders dropping glut of catches, even dollies in the slip cordon.

After losing at Lords and Trent Bridge, the visitors were in dire need of a comeback at Edbagston to save the series as well as the much vaunted number 1 Test spot but the match ended in a pasting for Dhoni led team, an innings and 242 run defeat to be exact. One of the main reasons for their failure so far has been batting; India has not crossed 300 in six innings. The likes of Sachin, Laxman and Gambhir have been disappointing; only Rahul Dravid has put up some resistance in the face of testing bowling by England pacers. Suresh Raina continues to struggle against moving and rising balls. Virendar Sehwag, who was supposed to be the savior, failed miserable with a king pair.

If the batting woes were not enough, Zaheer’s absence has compounded the problem. Their bowling, now led by Ishant Shrama has never looked like bowling the opposition twice. In the last match, the Indian bowlers were made to toil fruitlessly for nearly two days for mere seven wickets. England have traditionally struggled against leg-spin, however, Amit Mishra failed to exploit that weakness at Edbagston, may be its time for a four-pronged pace attack.

Seeing themselves placed at top of the rankings should be satisfying for Andy flower and Andrew Strauss, England would want to stamp their authority with a white-wash. And, on current form a 4-0 score line should not be difficult to accomplish. Their biggest plus in this series has been the in-form bowling; James Anderson, Chris Broad and Tim Bresnan have all come to the party with bagful of wickets, not to forget their contributions with the bat down the order. The conditions have also allowed the trio to make full use of their abilities, Indian batsmen at the receiving end of some unplayable stuff. As a result, the world’s so-called best batting line-up with more than 50,000 test runs in aggregate has fallen like nine-pins on most occasions. Though, James Anderson is a doubtful starter for the last match, his likely replacement Graham Onions can also move the red cherry prodigiously.

As often happens with a dominating team, their batsmen have piled runs regularly. Alistair Cook, after failing to make an impact in first half of the series compiled a match-winning 294 to add to India’s suffering. Eoin Morgan and Strauss also rediscovered their touch; even Bresnan was good enough for a brisk fifty. If England reproduce last week’s batting effort, Indian bowlers have their work cut-out for sure.

Dhoni may have lost his first test series in three year captaincy stint, but there is pride to play for in the last match at The Oval. A clean-sweep for England would relegate India to number three on the rankings table, from where the top spot is much farther away than their current second position. On the other hand, England would want to convert their first series win against India since 1996 into a comprehensive 4-0 score line.

England Squad: Andrew Strauss (C), Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk),Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Graham Onions, James Anderson, Tim Bresnan, Steve Finn

India Squad: MS Dhoni (C)(wk), Gautam Gambhir, Virendar Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Abhinav Mukund, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, R P Singh, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar