India vs England stats preview: Why it's almost impossible for visitors to come back from 2-0 down

The fourth Test between India and England starts on 8 December in Mumbai. Even though England cannot win the series, they can eye levelling it by winning the remaining two Tests. On the other hand, India would like to seal the series win at Wankhede itself. It will be an arduous task for India to beat England at Wankhede because it is one of the happy hunting grounds for the visitors in this country. Therefore, the fourth Test will be a real challenge for India. It will be intriguing to see how Virat Kohli’s team tackle a tricky opposition in the Mumbai clash. Here are some assorted stats and facts to look forward to ahead of the fourth Test. England’s win/loss ratio of 1.000 at Wankhede is the best for them in India at any ground in Tests. On the flip side, the hosts would like to improve their numbers at this stadium because they have won only two Tests from the last five here. Overall, India’s record at the ground is decent as their win percentage of 41.67 is the second best for them at any venue in India, where they have played at least 15 Tests.

Kohli has scored 405 runs in this series at an average of 101.25, which is the most by any batsman in the first three Tests. He is on the verge of making another record. If he scores 76 runs more in the remaining two matches, he will achieve the feat of scoring the most runs in a Test series by an Indian captain against England. Cheteshwar Pujara has the second-most runs in this ongoing series. The upcoming Test at Wankhede will be vital for both Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane as they have not performed up to their potential so far.

As far as the visitors are concerned, Joe Root has once again made an impression with the bat. His 299 runs in three Tests is the most by an England batsman in this series so far. Ben Stokes, captain Alastair Cook and Johnny Bairstow have all contributed to some extent. However, in order to beat India, they need to step up and play a big innings like Kohli’s in the second Test at Visakhapatnam. The batsmen need to make the most of crucial moments in the match to put enough pressure on India.

Adil Rashid has picked up the most wickets in the series but his efforts have not helped his team win a match yet. Apart from him, no other England bowler has taken more than eight wickets in this series. It will be essential for the English bowlers to give him some much needed assistance from the other end. For India, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami, all three bowlers have taken 10 or more wickets in and that has clearly been the major difference between the two sides in this series.

Generally, pacers have been quite effective at Wankhede as they taken wickets at a better strike rate than spinners. “It should turn from second day evening, or at least by the third day. There’s heavy dew these days, so we’re watering the pitch less. We’ve cut the grass a bit too, so that the wicket bears a fresh look for the Test,” Ramesh Mamunkar, the curator was quoted as saying by The Times of India on Sunday. He also denied that he had received any instructions from the Indian team about preparing a spin-friendly pitch. This may settle the debate over the pitch’s nature but it will be advisable for England to find a winning combination otherwise they might end up on the losing side again. Here’s look at the performance of pacers against spinners at Wankhede in Tests and a comparison of their performances so far.

Overall, the Wankhede Stadium has hosted a total 24 Tests. Among these, nine matches have been won by the team which batted first after winning the toss while the team which opted to field first has gone on to win the match only twice. It is sensible to bat first at Wankhede given the fact that the average fourth-innings score at the venue in Tests is only 129.

It is infeasible for England to draw the series from here on unless they outperform their opponents in all three departments of the game. England have drawn a series of five or more Tests after trailing by 2-0 only once in their Test history. They did it against West Indies in 1953-54 in the Caribbean.