IND v ENG, 5th Test Preview: England hope to avoid embarrassment at Chepauk

In spite of the cyclones and the political unrest in the region, the final Test match between India and England will go underway at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. As far as India is concerned, it will just be a case of putting the cherry on top of the cake as they take on the battered Britons in the final Test match of what has proved to be an arduous and fatigue-filled series.

While the unrest prevails in the region, England would be certainly looking at maintaining their promise of securing a win at the very least against the Indians. In addition, they would also want to secure a win at Chepauk, something they have failed to accomplish since 1985. Also, the Indians will be eager to continue their undefeated streak, something that has been the case since 1999.

Prelude

As many would be familiar with, there is a lot of bad blood coming into the final Test given the outbursts between Ravi Ashwin and James Anderson. The allegations between themselves and a few England players, most notably Ben Stokes who has even gone as far as lashing out at the ICC for not imposing sanctions on certain Indian players.

What has been the trend for the past few matches between these two is that the Britons have not fared too badly. In fact, they fared much better than the visiting New Zealanders who had toured a month previously. However, the current Indian cricketing framework sees the players able to deal with most threats, evidence of which can be found in the result of the first Test at Rajkot.

The Jonny Bairstow factor

As mentioned previously, the Britons have not had a bad tour, but instead, have been outplayed by an Indian team that simply cannot put a foot wrong. Among the plethora of positives the Indians have to their name, Jonny Bairstow is one of the few players who has successfully made a mark in the series. Of course, Joe Root has come up with important knocks from time to time, but Jonny Bairstow has quite literally been Mr. Reliable, to say the least.

Being one of those who has been able to successfully play spin bowling, a lot will certainly depend on the way Bairstow approaches the dry and spinning deck laid out at the M Chidambaram Stadium.

India

As far as the Indians are concerned, ‘serendipity’ would be one way, to sum up, what exactly has taken place in the previous few days. Moreover, the Indian spin trio has also seemingly found their place in the reckoning for legendary status especially given the fact that their bowling in tandem has made it almost impossible for one to deal with their bowling acumen. For this, credit must be given to Indian skipper Virat Kohli.

As for the team selection, the fitness of Mohammad Shami is perhaps the only uncertainty the Indians face. Apart from that, the nucleus of the side would be expected to be the same one that helped them claim a win at the Wankhede Stadium. Karun Nair will keep his place momentarily, but will have to make a contribution of considerable repute should he expect to nail down a place in the side in the long term.

England

While the Indian contingent is witnessing aces and diamonds, England looks like a battered minotaur that has quite possibly fought its final battle. What’s worse is the fact that some of the players are on the receiving end of terrible fitness on the tour. Upwards of 20 players have been made to take flights from various parts of the globe to join up with the side in India, something that is most certainly not an encouraging sign at the least.

The Brits have been dealt with yet another body blow as James Anderson will be left out of the XI. While it is easy to look at the horrific numbers of Anderson from the previous match, he still remains to be their spearhead. Moreover, Stuart Broad also has a few fitness issues meaning that it would be the inexperienced duo of Jake Ball and Chris Woakes who would very well be expected to formulate a bowling alliance at Chepauk.

Probable XI

India:

Virat Kohli (C), Parthiv Patel (wk), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, R Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav/Mohammad Shami

England:

Alastair Cook (C), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Keaton Jennings, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes, Jake Ball/Stuart Broad, Adil Rashid, Liam Dawson

StAttack:

• Alastair Cook requires 2 runs to complete 11,000 runs in Test cricket. Should he achieve this feat, he will enter the top 10 run-getters in Test match cricket of all time.

• Moeen Ali requires 3 wickets to complete 100 Test match wickets.

• India has not lost a match at Chepauk since January 1999 since they lost to Pakistan. The record for England is much worse given the fact that they won last only in 1985.

• Ravi Ashwin requires 3 wickets to complete 250 Test match wickets. If he reaches the feat in this game, he will become the fastest to reach the milestone. (Dennis Lillee is currently holding this record, he took 48 games to achieve this feat)

• Another record beckons for Ashwin as he stands on the brink of 2000 Test match runs requiring 251 runs to get there.