India vs England 2014, 4th Test: England favorites going into the match at Old Trafford

India will come into the game with a damaged morale after their huge defeat at Southampton.

Published: August 6, 2014 4:57 PM IST

By Abhimanyu Shahi

India vs England 2014, 4th Test: England favorites going into the match at Old Trafford

With the series all even at 1-1 and many of the players from both the sides suffering from fatigue, India’s tour to England moves to Old Trafford in Manchester for the 4th test of the 5 match series. India will come into the game with a damaged morale after their huge defeat at Southampton.

India will be the side with various disadvantages in the game as their bowling line up seems to be degrading match by match. They were already short of the services of Ishant Sharma and now news coming in is that India’s star performer with bat and ball this tour; Bhuvaneshwar Kumar might not be fit to play the game at Old Trafford as well.

Although the Bowling is degrading game by game, India’s batting has become a major problem, especially after the last game. Shikhar Dhawan has been a huge failure with the bat this series and his position up the order is being reconsidered by the team management, giving hints that Gautam Gambhir might just get a chance ahead of him in the 4th test.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli, two of India’s most consistent performers have failed to deliver with the bat in this series and that has proved to be the prime reason of India’s loss at Southampton. Both the batsmen have managed to get starts on multiple occasions but none have converted them into a big one.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni seemed like a lion on the hunt in the test at Lords. But he was back to his usually defensive ways in Southampton. The fact that he has failed with the bat as well doesn’t make his case strong in front of the critics either.

England on the other hand will be more than just satisfied with the efforts of their batsmen and bowlers after the last game at Southampton. All their top order batsmen seem to be in form with the return of their experienced players amongst the runs as well. Alastair Cook would have the monkey removed of his back with his performance at Southampton and that showed effectively in his captaincy as well.

The Middle order has been the star performers in this series so far with youngsters like Sam Robson, Gary Balance, Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Ian Bell performing when the team needed them the most. Moeen Ali’s additional ability of picking up important wickets at crucial points in the game just makes his inclusion in the team that much more special and helpful.

The bowling under the leadership of James Anderson has been right on the money in every single game and the moment the batsmen gave them enough support, they delivered with a resounding victory. Although you can make argument of the English players themselves being hit by tired minds and fatigue of a long tour, they are more used to playing 5 test series than the Indians.

So, as far as the case in the game at Old Trafford is concerned, it’s advantage England going into the game. They know the conditions better, they are the team in form and they have the momentum with them as well, it would be great to see how the Indians react when the tables are turned against them

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