With injuries afflicting both England and India, Chris Baldwin looks at the selection dilemmas facing the two teams ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston.
Take Five?
With Jonathan Trott a doubt to feature at his home ground due to the shoulder injury he sustained at Trent Bridge, England face a difficult choice concerning the balance of their side.
The signs are positive that Trott will be fit to take his place in the squad but if the Warwickshire man is sidelined then England will be tempted to alter the balance of their side and opt for a five-man bowling attack. Tim Bresnan continued where he left off Down Under, picking up his maiden Test five-fer and belting 90 with the bat for good measure, while Chris Tremlett is back in the reckoning after recovering from the hamstring injury that forced him to miss England’s record-breaking victory. Matt Prior’s form with the bat has been such that he could be elevated to No.6, allowing Bresnan and Tremlett to both feature in a five-man attack.
However, to play an extra bowler would be to depart from Andy Flower’s tried and trusted method which has served them so well in recent times. If England do decide to stick with the winning formula, then either Bresnan or Tremlett can consider themselves unfortunate in the extreme to miss out given their superb performances over the last eight months.
Batter Up?
If England do decide to stick with a four-man attack and Trott is ruled out, this then opens up an opportunity for another batsman to come into the middle-order, with Ian Bell moving up to first drop after his sublime ton in Nottingham.
Having already missed out in one head-to-head clash for a batting berth with Eoin Morgan earlier in the season, Ravi Bopara could well miss out again after James Taylor continued his fine season with scores of 76 and 98 while captaining England Lions against Sri Lanka A. Bopara does have Test match experience and his canny seamers in his favour but after the Essex man failed to take his chance with knocks of 19 and 25 against the Sri Lankans, Taylor appears to have stolen a march on his rival.
The wildcard selection would be Nottinghamshire allrounder Samit Patel, who has been welcomed back into the one-day fold after his much-publicised fitness problems. Patel’s left-arm spin would add another weapon to England’s fearsome arsenal but he is likely to have to wait for the winter tours to the subcontinent to make his Test bow.
Tourists’ Travails
India’s injury list appears to be getting longer by the day with Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh now ruled out for the remainder of the series. Virat Kohli and Pragyan Ojha have been called up as replacements but with neither featuring in the two-day match against Northants, it seems unlikely that they will be thrust into Test action.
Gautam Gambhir is certain to resume as opening bat and looks set to be partnered at the top of the order by the returning Virender Sehwag, despite the explosive opener’s first innings failure at Northampton.
That would leave one middle-order batting spot up for grabs. Suresh Raina continues to look all at sea against the short ball but the hand injury to Yuvraj may well give him another chance to prove his doubters wrong and show he has the minerals, and the technique, to cut it at Test level. Abhinav Makund has looked out of his depth against the moving ball so far in this series but remains in contention after striking a ton against Northants and could feature in an unfamiliar role at No.6.
In the bowling department, Zaheer Khan is back in action and will play if considered close to match fit as India look to drag their way back into the series. The tourists must then decide whether to opt for a four-man pace attack or bring in legspinner Amit Mishra, probably at the expense of Sreesanth.
