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London: Back-to-back wins at Southampton and Manchester did just about enough to make the visitors' historic win seem a distant memory in final Test starts at The Oval on Friday.
If the humiliating 266-run defeat at the Ageas Bowl didn't ring alarming bells in the Indian camp, the embarrassment of an innings defeat at Old Trafford has turned captain MS Dhoni's world upside down.
At the moment, his problems are plenty. The batsmen are short of runs, the bowlers are being taken to the cleaners and the slip fielders have dropped more than they've pouched. But there's still scope - a meagre one if nothing else - to save face when they take the field at The Oval come Friday.
Team selection remains the biggest concern for Dhoni, yet again. Opener Shikhar Dhawan played three matches but failed to give a good account of himself. His Old Trafford replacement Gautam Gambhir, making a comeback after an 18-month absence, looked at sea against short-pitch bowlin, outside his off stump. However, Dhoni is likely to persist with Gambhir instead of Dhawan, who averages just 20 from six innings.
The pressure on Chesteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli to deliver is enormous. Two batsmen - who came to England with reputations of being the backbone of India's middle order, are enduring the most horrible phase of their young careers. They have combined for 317 runs in 16 innings with just one half-century between them. If India are to level the series, both will have to come good.
The bowling front is likely to undergo changes. With reports of Ishant Sharma being fit, Pankaj Singh will have to sit out. Varun Aaron, despite being erratic, picked up 3 for 97 in England's only innings and his wicket of Moeen Ali was quite special. Pankaj, who bowled with a lot of heart at the Ageas Bowl, failed to keep the momentum at Old Trafford, going over four an over. Also, the Rohit Sharma-Ravi Ashwin dilemma must be playing on Dhoni's mind. Ashwin got runs in both innings at Old Trafford and considering The Oval's history of assisting spinners, the offspinner is likely to hold on to his place.
As far as England are concerned, they have performed splendidly to come from behind and lead the series 2-1. Expect nothing less than an all-out England come hard against Dhoni and Co. in order to pocket their first series win in over a year. Their wrecker-in-chief has been Ali, who was drafted in the team due to his batting, but has made the Indian batsmen dance to his spin. His 19 wickets in the series are second only to Ray Illingworth's 20 in 1967 by an England spinner at home against India.
Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Joe Root have all looked in good touch. Gary Ballance, with two centuries - Lord's and Southampton - has had a golden start to his career. Their only concern at the moment is Sam Robson, who has averaged a little over 21 in four Tests with just one fifty. And even though Michael Carberry is waiting in the wings, England wouldn't want to change their winning composition.
The England bowling attack will once again be spearheaded by James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Both medium-pacers have shared 37 wickets between them and although Broad has suffered a broken nose, reports have suggested that Old Trafford's hero will play his final match this summer before undergoing knee surgery. Cook might also be tempted to play Steven Finn, who replaced the injured Liam Plunkett, but is yet to get a game. An attack comprising Anderson, Broad, Finn, Jordan and Ali promises to be one of England's best in recent memory.
India's performance in Manchester was their second-worst at the venue. After plummeting to the opposition inside three days, Dhoni's side has its back to the wall against a full-blooded England attack.
Teams from:
England: Alastair Cook (Capt), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Jordan, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Chris Woakes, Steven Finn
India: Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (Capt. & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Aaron, Ishant Sharma, Pankaj Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Ishwar Pandey, Stuart Binny, Naman Ojha
Match facts
August 15-19, 2014
Start time 1100 local (1000 GMT, 1530 IST)
