Seniors Pay the Price as England Batter India

Senior players Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh have been dropped from the team for the forthcoming fourth test between India and England at Nagpur after India narrowly escaped innings defeat in the third test at Kolkata.

India scored 316 and 247 in the two innings while England scored 523 in the first innings and 41 (for three wickets) in the second – thus winning the test by 7 wickets against an Indian team crippled by inept batting and pathetic bowling.

Sachin’s dogged but none too authoritative 76 in the first innings, notwithstanding an eminently forgettable 5 in the second, coupled with the awe in which he is held and the aura surrounding him, seems to have saved his scalp despite the steadily mounting clamour for it. Yuvraj Singh, plagued by the poor scores in the second and third tests, hasn’t been that lucky despite the impressive knock of 74 in the first test.

The Saurashtrian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Delhi pace bowler Parvinder Awana have been included in the probables for the final test. The final 11 for the Nagpur test will be selected from:

Mahinder Singh Dhoni (Captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashoke Dinda, Murali Vijay, and Parvinder Awana.

With England presently leading 2-1 and just one more test to go in this four-test series, the worst fear of England and the most ambitious hope of India is a tie.

Doctored pitches do not necessarily help; determined teams do. Determined coaches like John Wright too can help in no small measure.

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