India will lock horns against England at the picturesque Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala in the fifth Test match from Thursday onwards. The hosts have taken an impregnable lead of 3-1 in the series and will look to continue the good show.
On the other hand, England has competed well in the series but they have lacked the knockout punch. The visitors have failed to win the crucial stages in the series and thus find themselves trailing by 3-1.
England had their noses in front in the fourth Test at Ranchi when India were tottering at 177-7 after the tourists had posted 353 runs on the board. However, India was able to bounce back into the contest as Dhruv Jurel scored a fine knock of 90 runs.
Meanwhile, the Dharamsala Test will be a landmark Test match for Ravichandran Ashwin and Jonny Bairstow. Both the veterans will be playing their 100th Test match and will aim to make it a memorable game. Bairstow hasn’t been at his best in the ongoing series as he has managed only 170 runs in four Test matches and he will be determined to prove his mettle.
Indian youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, Dhruv Jurel, and Shubman Gill have grabbed their opportunities with both hands and they will look to keep impressing.
Rohit Sharma also deserves a lot of credit for getting the best out of the young Indian brigade and guiding them on the right track.
Match Prediction: India will start the contest as favorites against England.
England Squad: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes(c), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes(w), Tom Hartley, Ollie Robinson, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson, Mark Wood, Daniel Lawrence, Gus Atkinson
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Srikar Bharat, Devdutt Padikkal, Axar Patel, Mukesh Kumar
