Middle-order in focus as India face England in Dharamsala in Ashwin's 100th Test

The series may have been already decided, there may not be much to play for as far as England are concerned. But still, there are two iconic cricketers who are set to play their 100th Test match for their sides — India’s Ravichandran Ashwin and England’s Jonny Bairstow.

The caravan moves to the scenic Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium in Dharamsala for the fifth and final India-England Test. This will be the last Test assignment for both before focus shifts to the Indian Premier League (IPL) and then the 2024 T20 World Cup in West Indies and USA.

If there’s one major takeaway from this Test series for India, it’s the way the  youngsters have proven their mettle at the big stage in the absence of reputed stars like Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.

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Yashasvi Jaiswal (655 runs from eight innings at 93.57) has showcased his class and temperament with an all-out aggressive approach, whereas Sarfaraz Khan’s time finally arrived in the third Test in Rajkot, where he slammed two fifties. And Dhruv Jurel may have taken himself ahead in the pecking order for wicketkeeper batters with his match-defining knocks of 90 and 39* in Ranchi.

Shubman Gill, too, has rediscovered his touch with regular 50-plus knocks in the last three Tests. He got his first century as a number three Test batter in Visakhapatnam, and then knocks of 91 and 52* in Rajkot and Ranchi respectively may have just swing the pendulum in his favour.

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Middle order conundrum

Despite their series victory, the Indian team management still has a selection headache as far as the middle-order is concerned. In the absence of injured KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer who was dropped for lacklustre outings, the middle-order has looked shaky. Rajat Patidar has failed to live upto expectations despite a promising start to his Test career with a knock of 32 in Vizag. Patidar’s inconsistency might cost him a place in the playing XI, with Team India having another option in Devdutt Padikkal to replace him.

Form is in Padikkal’s favour after the Karnataka batter played a knock of 151 in their Ranji Trophy group match against Tamil Nadu in February. Padikkal has already scored three centuries and a fifty in domestic cricket this year, so there’s no reason why the team management shouldn’t try him out. And there’s no better time for that than now, with the series already sealed.

Return of Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah is all set to make his way back into the playing XI after being rested for the Ranchi Test. While it certainly will be Mohammed Siraj who will partner Bumrah in the pace bowling attack, it will be interesting to see if Akash Deep gets another game given his exploits of 3/83 in the first innings in Ranchi.

But, then again, rain has been forecast on Day 1 of the fifth Test in Dharamsala on Thursday, and with the pitch reportedly to be a slow turner, India could also go into the Test with three spinners. Should that be the case, Kuldeep Yadav could come ahead of Akash Deep whereas Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin retain their place. That would mean Bumrah and Siraj as the only two seamers.

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As far as England is concerned, Mark Wood replaced Ollie Robinson in the only change as they announced the playing XI for the fifth Test. England’s batting, however, will be the larger focus with only Zak Crawley (328 runs) and Ben Duckett (314) having made some sort of an impact.

The talk of Bazball may have dominated buildup towards the Test series, but Rohit Sharma feels otherwise.

“I just don’t know what Bazball means. I haven’t seen wild swinging from anyone. England have played better cricket than they were here last time. But I still don’t know what Bazball means…,” Rohit said during a media conference on Wednesday.

Bazball or not, this has been an underwhelming series for England after that promising start in Hyderabad back in February. England may still believe that they have some fuel left in the tank as they look to end the tour on a high note.

Squads

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Devdutt Padikkal, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep.

England: Ben Stokes (C), James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Shoaib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes (Wk), Dan Lawrence, Tom Hartley, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.