India seek redemption as England eye fitting farewell for Cook
Amidst a lot of speculations and murmurs about India's 'Bradmanesque' comeback, here we are with England having sealed the series at The Ageas Bowl making the fifth and final Test at The Oval nothing more than a dead-rubber. But there is a lot at stake for some individuals and both the team combinations will give us an idea about their strategies for their future assignments. England will look to make Cook's farewell a memorable one for him and on the other hand, the tourists will still continue to try and learn the 'art of finishing'.
India
Though India squandered away a number of opportunities for a historic series win in SA, everyone backed this Indian team to come good against a struggling England team. In England, they went onto master this practice on a regular basis.
Ravi Shastri said that it could have been easily 3-1 or 2-2. But like any other sport, cricket is not a game of if's and but's. The Oval provides them with an opportunity to take a closer look at their strategies in overseas conditions.
India didn't play as poorly as the scoreline reads. They had a strong bowling attack capable of taking 20 wickets but it is their batting which has let them down. Before their next away series in Australia, they had a chance to try a different combination by replacing Pandya with Hanuma Vihari and going in with six front-line batsmen.
But, it will be interesting to see whether they change their successful five-bowler theory or not. They can continue this theory by playing two spinners Ashwin and Jadeja at The Oval where the conditions and pitch is expected to be subcontinental.
Whatever may be the combination, their playing XI and strategies will give us an idea about their approach for future overseas series and we will also come to know whether they are learning the art of finishing or not.
Possible XI: KL Rahul, S Dhawan, C Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), A Rahane, R Pant (WK), (2 out of) H Pandya/H Vihari/R Ashwin/ R Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, M Shami, J Bumrah
England
After a gruelling winter, finally, the England Test team have something to savour. They were leading 3-1 and will have a chance for payback after their 4-0 annihilation in 2016. England will also look for a perfect send-off for Cook. A series win against the No.1 Test side has already made his farewell, one to cherish. It won't be easy for any team to fill the void created by a player like Cook.
Despite winning the series, England are still left out with a lot of questions about their playing XI for future series. But that is a debate for another day as they went with an unchanged XI for this dead-rubber contest.
Bairstow will return to his keeping duties and they might continue with the batting order from their second innings in Southampton with Ali going in at No.3. It will be a crucial match for Jennings to book his place for the tour to Sri Lanka.
Adil Rashid didn't have much of an impact and even he needs a good performance for a place in the squad after being selected as the primary spinner for this series. 4-1 will be a perfect send-off for Cook and Root & Co. will definitely look to do just that.
England XI: Alastair Cook, K Jennings, M Ali, J Root (C), J Bairstow (WK), Ben Stokes, J Buttler, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, S Broad, J Anderson
What to expect?
Historically, The Oval is the pitch that offers the most assistance for spinners. Whoever wins will definitely bat first and as the match progresses, the pitch will offer some turn. England already have two spinners by continuing their playing eleven and it will be interesting to see whether India will go with their spin twins or not.
Stat Alert:
--> Virat Kohli needs 56 runs to aggregate 600 runs in the series. Previously, he had 639 v Aus, 655 v Eng, 610 v SL. Sunil Gavaskar & Rahul Dravid aggregated 600+ runs on a couple of occasions.
--> Anderson needs five wickets to overtake Glenn McGrath's tally of 563 wickets to become the leading fast-bowler in test cricket history.
--> Cook needs 1 run to complete 1000 runs at The Oval. He also had 1000+ runs in Lord's. Only Graham Gooch and Alec Stewart had done it before.