Pitch in focus yet again as India look to book Lord’s berth

One last hurdle stands between Team India and a place in the World Test Championship final. Anything but a loss will see the team through. The third Test match went by in a breeze with the Pink ball causing trouble to batsmen from both sides on a track which sparked an age-old turning pitch debate. With England out of contention from the WTC, a drawn series is all that England have left to play for.

Yet again all the eyeballs will be on the playing surface. But, the fact that India will be without one of the best fast bowlers in the world, and yet that has not been a point of discussion is further proof towards the skills of the Indian spinners having made the pitch look even more unplayable. Axar Patel has been a revelation in Test cricket. 18 wickets with three 5-wicket hauls in his first four innings in Test cricket has more than covered up for the absence of Ravindra Jadeja.

Except for the unexpected collapse in the first session of Day 2 in Ahmedabad, the Indian batting has looked in-form. Rohit Sharma seems to have finally found his feet in Test cricket, while a young Shubman Gill has not taken long at all to look at home in the longer format. An Indian home season without a Pujara marathon just does not feel right, while Virat Kohli, despite all the talk about no three-figure innings has looked untroubled for large parts. Pant has come into his own, while the batting ability of the spin trio of R Ashwin, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar has extended the Indian tail till 9.

England have had scattered spells of brilliance. Zak Crawley on his debut innings on Indian soil looked assured for his half-century in the first innings in Ahmedabad. Dom Sibley was impressive in the first Test with an assured 87. There is always an added threat of Joe Root and Ben Stokes turning it up on their day. However, England have struggled to find any fortitude lower middle order onwards.

Tourists' selection policy has raised a few eyebrows too. Playing one of the toughest tours on the circuit, with a place in the World Test Championship finals on the line, their decision to rotate key players feels baffling. Despite the challenges of a bio-bubble, shuffling players in and out of an eleven must be unsettling for a squad. Add to that England misreading the Ahmedabad pitch to go in with 3 fast bowlers, only for a part-timer in Joe Root to claim 5/8 was an error of judgment.

While yet another 2-day Test match would be a freakish occurrence, the playing surface will yet again be in focus. While a draw would suffice for Team India, Captain Kohli and his team have forged their identity on playing to win regardless of the situation. Will Team India barge into the WTC final, or will England have a hand in helping their rivals Australia book a Lord’s trip in June? Just one sleep separates us from the all-important final Test.