In Dharamsala’s chilly hilly conditions, both India and England keen to give it their all to gain valuable points in race to World Test Championship final in otherwise dead fifth rubber with hosts leading series 3-1
Shubman Gill during India’s practice session at Dharamsala yesterday. Pics/PTI, Getty Images
This part of the country is in the grip of a cold wave. Temperatures have rarely slid into the teens, nights are frightfully uncomfortable and even during the day, in the shade, there is more of an English feel to the weather.
Yet, Rohit Sharma’s India are completely at home as they seek to stamp their authority on a yo-yoing series with one final flourish in the last of five Tests, starting at the HPCA Stadium on Thursday. England have had several opportunities to put India away but with single-minded focus, a young outfit masterfully marshalled by Rohit has found ways to wriggle out of trouble, 3-1 an apt reflection of the consistency and resolve that England’s fanciful Bazball has been unable to overcome.
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Nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas, this beautiful setting has hosted one Test previously, when left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav bamboozled Steve Smith’s Australia in 2017. Kuldeep’s Test career hasn’t quite taken off, for no fault of his, evidenced by only 10 further appearances in seven years. Kuldeep has enjoyed a good run in this series where, finally, he has got three games on the bounce, but the 29-year-old could still miss out if, in deference to the conditions, India play a third seamer as back-up to the returning Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
England’s Zak Crawley (right) catches in the slips as Jonathan Bairstow and Ben Duckett (left) look on yesterday
Kuldeep has provided crucial breakthroughs and bowled influential spells, but as ever, the spotlight has been more on Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, who will add further gloss to an already glittering career when he plays his 100th Test. Ashwin came in for fulsome praise from his suitably impressed captain and even though he has tried to downplay the occasion, the 37-year-old will be keen to make this contest a memorable one for all the right reasons.
For all the positivity and optimism Ben Stokes has exuded, England will have to settle for second best, no matter what happens here. They have gone 14 months without a series win, languish at eighth in the World Test Championship table—WTC points, as much as anything else, mean this is not a dead rubber by any stretch of the imagination—and will soon start to feel the heat if they aren’t in the blue in the results column at the altar of playing an entertaining brand.
Stokes has admittedly handled a thin spin attack with care and flair, but India’s young batting guns spearheaded by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill have found an answer to nearly every probing question. Only Rajat Patidar has come a cropper and must count himself fortunate if he keeps Devdutt Padikkal on the bench for this game too.
England will bring back express paceman Mark Wood for the misfiring Ollie Robinson and hope 20-year-old offie Shoaib Bashir recovers from the stomach bug that kept him away from Wednesday practice. They will look to exit on a high, no pun intended, but India are unlikely to play the generous, pliant host.
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