The Third Test in Mohali, India, begins on Saturday at 4am UK time with
England trailing in the series by one match to nil with another
drawn.
On these typically arid, Indian pitches, losing the toss in any match will almost
inevitably lead to another England defeat.
Worn pitches later in the game play into the hands of the excellent
Indian spinners who become virtually unplayable - and who can blame the groundsmen for producing a wicket to
suit their own bowling attack?
England bowlers have generally done well but it is difficult to see
how Rashid can possibly outperform Ashwin who is currently the best spinner in
the world.
Both Rashid and Moe Ali have improved during this Asian tour but
Ansari remains a work in progress. Will he keep his place? - He is certainly a better idea than playing the ancient Gareth Batty.
The England seam trio of Anderson, Woakes
and Broad, ably assisted by Ben Stokes, have all done extremely
well.
Since Ballance was dropped, Hameed has grasped his chance opening
alongside Cook and looks to be a class act. (If he's that good at 19
....)
Duckett however has looked out of place in test cricket - however
superb he may be in the one day game. It is a shame that the start to his test
career was against nations who specialise in aggressive spin bowling. He is so
very good at facing seam. Four failures in four innings cannot be ignored.
Sadly, he must now lose his place which should mean a chance for
Jos Buttler to demonstrate whether he is test class and not just a genius in
the shorter form of the game. Duckett's turn will come again!
The trouble is that the Indian spinners are of such quality that
even winning the toss and forcing them to bat last may not be enough to create
an England victory. After all, they won the toss in the opening test and were
still unable to force the win, even if, to be fair, they did come pretty
close.
More tough times ahead! But the best of the best frequently come a cropper in India. Wickets must be considered as valuable as gold if England are to fight back.
