The buzz around the JSCA Stadium ahead of the fourth India-England Test was rather muted on match-eve. This is perhaps why tickets have been priced as low as ₹400. And if you shell out ₹2000, you can land in the JSCA President’s Enclosure!
“Dhoni khel raha hai? (is Dhoni playing),” asked Gopal, a taxi driver. On learning that one of Jharkhand’s favourite sons had long retired from international cricket, he asked if Virat Kohli was playing. Disappointed on that count too, he wore an exasperated look. “Team mein bacha hi kya hai (what’s left of the team),” he muttered.
Perception matters, in sports like in politics. But without Dhoni for long, and without Kohli this series, India has mostly won that battle. The Test side of today is an all-conquering unit, and over three matches in the last month, it has dipped into its seemingly inexhaustible reserves to bounce back from a 0-1 deficit to go 2-1 ahead.
The fourth Test starting on Friday will be an opportunity to take an unassailable lead that will guarantee India a 17th straight series win at home, stretching back to 2012-13. Maybe that will convince Gopal to also come around, for there is more to this team than Dhoni and Kohli.
The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Sarfaraz Khan have been central to this. Jaiswal has scored two double centuries; Gill, despite being under fire, has a century and a fifty and Sarfaraz made a confident debut in Rajkot with two half-centuries.
Speedster Akash Deep may be the next newcomer with a chance to impress, for he is in competition with Mukesh Kumar to take Jasprit Bumrah’s place. Neither will come close to Bumrah’s excellence — 17 wickets at 13.64 this series — but complementing Mohammed Siraj will be the need of the hour.
The conditions could help. Winter retreats late north of the Vindhyas, and on Thursday, the sun played hide and seek and there was even a spell of light rain. This has only added to the intrigue surrounding the pitch that many expected to wholesomely assist spinners.
To cover for all possibilities, Ben Stokes has retained the two-pacer attack from Rajkot but with Ollie Robinson in place of Mark Wood as Jimmy Anderson’s partner. Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir will come in for leggie Rehan Ahmed.
However, England needs more than just a change in personnel. It requires Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow to score more than the combined 179 runs they have accumulated. The former, a purist’s delight, now has a well-defined unorthodox streak in him, as exemplified by his dismissal in the previous contest while trying a reverse-scoop off Bumrah.
Yet, England’s commitment to the high-wire Bazball strategy will not change, despite the crushing 434-run loss in Rajkot where the second innings lasted just 39.4 overs.
There are calls for some prudence, but under Brendon McCullum and Stokes, England is averse to allowing two seeming opposites exist together. This approach has after all worked wonders since June 2022 with the side winning 14 of its 21 Tests. If it manages a 15th, it will be the best one yet.
The teams:
India (from): Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Devdutt Padikkal, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar and Akash Deep.
England (XI): Ben Stokes (Capt.), Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes, Shoaib Bashir, Tom Hartley, James Anderson and Ollie Robinson.
Match starts at 9.30 a.m.
