Cricket will take the centre stage, after the closure of James Anderson-Ravindra Jadeja saga, as India is set to lock horns with England in the fourth Test of the five-match series at the Old Trafford today.
England registered a massive 266-run win over the touring party in the third match to level the series 1-1. It was a nightmare outing for India at Southampton, as they failed to win even a single session and surrendered the match.
In the absence of Ishant Sharma, the Indian bowling lacked fire-power and couldn't trouble the hosts. Ishant is also missing the fourth Test because of an injury and with the Manchester pitch is expected to be the fastest in the series so far, skipper MS Dhoni needs to get his bowling combination right.
Bowling long spells in last match must have taken a toll on Indian pacers, especially Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami, which have played in all matches so far. Pankaj Singh endured an unlucky debut and it will be interesting to see whether Dhoni field him or pick Varun Aaron.
"We put a lot of wear and tear into the Indian bowlers in that game [third Test], that's how you win Test-match series," England skipper Alastair Cook said. "We put a lot of miles in their legs like they did to us at Trent Bridge, which affected us at Lord's. At the start of this game it is nil-all and you've got to earn the right to put miles in their legs again."
India have played with four bowlers in the series so far, but apart from on-off effort at Lord's, this strategy have failed to bear fruits. Dhoni needs to make a few changes, seeing Ravindra Jadeja has failed to fill the spot of a specialist spinner.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin could return to the playing XI in place of Rohit Sharma, who failed in the previous Test. Jadeja, is likely to keep his place, after the infamous altercation with Anderson, although his performance is far from impressive in the series.
Indian batsmen have to come to the fore, but with the top-order struggling at the moment, it's time to include experienced Gautam Gambhir in the line-up. Shikhar Dhawan has had enough opportunities in the series and he failed to make even a single good score.
The form of Virat Kohli is also a concern for India, as 1, 8, 25, 0, 39 and 28 are not the numbers expected from the Delhi-born. Kohli has been India's main-stay in overseas victories in the past few series and it is high time that the 25-year-old should come out flying.
Meanwhile, the Rose Bowl win looked to have solved England's all problems - Cook has found his form back, Ian Bell scored a ton and Anderson is cleared of all charges - and are looking to be at the top. The performance of Moeen Ali was a big relief for the England's skipper, as he ripped through Indian batting order at Southampton.
"At 1-1 in three Tests and two matches to go, this is a great series," said Bell. "This is the kind of series you want to be involved in. The fourth Test should be exciting too because this is an exciting place to come and play (referring to Old Trafford). Hopefully it will be similar to the pitch we had in Southampton with a little more pace, which you do get here."
Expected Line-ups: England: Alastair Cook (c), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler (wk), Chris Woakes, Steve Finn, Stuart Broad and James Anderson.
India: Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Pankaj Singh.
Where to Watch Live
The first day of the fourth Test in Manchester is scheduled for an 11 am local time (3.30 pm IST, 6 am ET) start with live coverage on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3 and Star Sports HD1 in India. The match can also be watched via free live streaming online HERE.
Watch the match live online in the UK HERE or HERE, with TV coverage on Sky Sports 2. Listen to the Test match via BBC Radio 5 Live HERE. The match will be telecast live on ESPN 3 in the US, while the action can also be live streamed HERE.
