5 aspects that Team India should focus on to win the 4th Test
The India-England series has exploded into life already. Having lost the first two Tests against the hosts, India bounced back in style in the third game at Trent Bridge as the visitors ended up winning the game by a handsome margin of 203 runs. The five-match series is now delicately poised at 2-1 in favour of England with two more to go.
On the eve of the fourth Test, India should seek to focus on the following aspects:
#1 Team Composition
India should go into the fourth Test match unchanged, save for the injured R.Ashwin. Jadeja would be the perfect replacement for Ashwin. Other than this forced change, the team management should not disturb the winning combination. Both Dhawan and Shami are living on borrowed time, nevertheless, they should be retained for the fourth Test.
As the series is moving towards its business end, this is not the best time to blood young talent like a Prithvi Shaw. Besides, if Kohli wins the toss, he should look to bat first as Joe Root won’t be so generous this time around.
#2 Batting Partnerships
The major contributor to Team India’s victory in the Third Test was the number of significant partnerships the Indian batsmen could forge throughout the innings. Starting from the opening partnership between Dhawan and Rahul in both the innings, India were better served by Kohli and Rahane in the first innings and Kohli and Pujara in the second innings. The Indian batsmen should exhibit the same sort of patience and application as in the third Test to accumulate the runs.
The likely inclusion of the left-arm fast bowler Sam Curran in the England bowling lineup should make the batsmen’s task that much more daunting. Every Indian batsman should intend to face a minimum number of balls, in the process denying back-to-back wickets to England bowlers.
The reminiscence of Lord’s is still fresh and one more collapse like that will terminate the series for India. Similar to what Kohli did in the first Test, one of the top order batsmen should bat through the innings for India to fashion meaningful partnerships even with the tail.