Follow UsIt’s here. It’s finally here. Well, the wait has been abnormally long — 299 days to be precise — but the fifth and final Test between England and India is here. And boy just how much things have changed in these past 300 or so days.
Aakash, in his piece, went through everything in detail, but here’s a tough TLDR: both India and England have changed their captains and coaches and the Three Lions are no longer the boring pushovers they were last year. They are, as things stand, the most ‘exciting’ Test side going around in world cricket.
But the biggest talking point ahead of the encounter is who will be leading the Indian side on Friday. That’s right, incumbent skipper Rohit Sharma, last week, contracted Covid, but he’s not been fully ruled out yet. Jasprit Bumrah will be named skipper should Rohit not make it, but the Indian management have been mum about Rohit’s availability thus far. It remains a big mystery.
Regards of who leads India, though, we are set to witness a cracking encounter, weather permitting.
Ground Details
The one-off Test between England and India will be played at the Edgbaston and well, it is a venue that has not been kind to the Three Lions in the past three years. Between 2002 and 2018, England lost a solitary Test at the venue, Birmingham proving to be a fortress of sorts. However, the Three Lions have lost each of their last two Tests at the venue.
Since 2015, six Tests have been played at Edgbaston and it has to be said that the venue has largely proved to be bowler-friendly. The average first-innings score in the last six Tests at Edgbaston has been 304, with the 400-run mark being breached just once. That, too, came in a day-night Test. Taking away D/N games, the average first-innings score at the venue since 2016 has been a mere 261.
Captains, in general, have opted to bat first at Edgbaston. Since 2016, all but once the toss-winning captain has opted to bat. And more often than not, it has proved to be the right decision as the last six Tests have seen the team batting first end up on the winning side 4 times. The last Test at this venue, though, saw New Zealand beat England despite batting second.
Pace has dominated proceedings here, seamers accounting for nearly 80% of the wickets since 2015. The quicker bowlers have averaged 27.2 compared to spinners’ 34.8, and have also bowled more than 75% of the overs. Considering this, it would be a major surprise if India opt to play both Ashwin and Jadeja.
Suggested Team
Captain and vice-captain suggestions
For small leagues: Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow (vice-captain)
For small leagues: Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow (vice-captain)
Stats that matter
* Cheteshwar Pujara has been averaging 120.00 in the County Championship this season, and has notched up 4 centuries in 5 games, including two double-tons.
* Joe Root, no longer England’s skipper, accumulated 196 more runs than any other batter in the first four Tests of the series that were played last year. He struck 3 tons in 7 innings.
* That being said, across his last 5 innings at Edgbaston, Root has amassed just 114 runs at an average of 22.8.
* Stuart Broad averages 22.2 with the ball at Edgbaston — this is the third-best average for him among English venues.
* Jasprit Bumrah, India’s likely captain, finished as the second-highest wicket-taker for the side across the four Tests in 2021, picking 18 wickets @ 20.83. Overall, in 8 Tests in England, he averages 25.93.
Ravindra Jadeja had an unimpressive four Tests in England with the ball in 2021, averaging 45.28 while only picking a wicket once every 119 balls.
Grand League punts
* This year, only Usman Khawaja has scored more Test runs than Jonny Bairstow (774). He’ll be entering Friday’s encounter in red-hot form —369 runs in the last 3 innings at a 120+ SR — and hence it’d be pretty wise to back him to continue his form against India. Which is why we suggest you make him at least vice-captain, if not captain.
* Given Pujara is already accustomed to English conditions and has been in dream form in the County Championship this season, he should pretty much be an automatic pick in your Fantasy XI.
* These days you never know what you’re going to get with Virat Kohli, but it is worth remembering that he ended the 2021 series in England with 2 fifties in his last 3 innings. He also looked in fine touch against South Africa, so Kohli is always someone worth taking a punt on.
Probable XIs
England: Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Matty Potts, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
India: Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna / Mohammed Siraj