Stakes will be as high as they get for both England and India when the two sides meet in the third of five-match Test series at Trent Bridge on Saturday.
For hosts England, a series win will be on the line after a 31-run win at Edgbaston was followed up by an innings victory at Lord’s.
The visitors, meanwhile, have their ‘backs against the wall’ in the words of skipper Virat Kohli as they seek a silver lining to what has been a shambolic tour so far for the No1 ranked Test team in the world.
Here, we look at the key talking points ahead of the Nottingham showdown.
UNLUCKY SAM CURRAN MISSES OUT AS STOKES RETURNS
Once star all-rounder Ben Stokes was cleared of the affray charges by the Bristol Crown Court, the question on everyone’s lips was whom he would replace should he play at Trent Bridge.
That question was answered on Friday by skipper Joe Root who confirmed Stokes’ return to the playing XI with Sam Curran being the unfortunate player to miss out. While Root has called it as the ‘toughest selection call’ he has had to make as England Test skipper, it is hard not to feel for 20-year-old Curran who put in a man-of-the-match performance at Edgbaston in what was only the second Test match of his fledgling career.
Unlucky Sam Curran.
INDIA GET JASPRIT BUMRAH BOOST
Nothing has gone right for India on the tour ever since they took a 1-0 lead in the preceding ODI series but they were handed a significant boost ahead of the Trent Bridge Test with pacer Jasprit Bumrah being declared fit to play.
The visitors’ pace battery had been severely handicapped by injuries to both Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and the former’s return should lift the spirits within the Indian camp.
If he does feature as expected on Saturday, it will only be the fourth match of a still young Test career but he has already shown he has the tools to succeed with the red-ball after an excellent debut tour of South Africa where he picked up 14 wickets in three matches.
Ravi Shastri admitted that playing Kuldeep Yadav at Lord’s was a mistake and the wrist-spinner will be the most likely one to make way for Bumrah’s return.
Some good news for India at last.
STUART BROAD ON VERGE OF JOINING EXCLUSIVE CLUB
If Lord’s is James Anderson’s favourite stomping ground, then Trent Bridge is Stuart Broad’s.
It was on this ground that he delivered his career-best figures of 8-15 in the 2015 Ashes Test against arch-rivals Australia. When India came calling to Nottingham in their tour of 2011, they had gained the upper hand in the match before Broad dragged the hosts back with a sensational hat-trick in the first innings before England ultimately walked away with a mammoth 319-run win.
Thirty-seven wickets in eight matches in Trent Bridge at an average just over 20 should make India fearful of Broad. Should the senior England pacer register 12 runs in the Test, he will become only the fifth player in history after Shane Warne, Kapil Dev, Richard Hadlee and Shaun Pollock to have scored 3,000 runs while also picking up at least 400 wickets.
Broad on the verge of joining the greats.
TRENT BRIDGE OFFERS PROMISE TO BOTH TEAMS
While India are hurting currently, they can take comfort from the fact that Trent Bridge has seen them play some of their best cricket in England. Bar the 319-run defeat in 2011, the Indians have not lost at the venue in their last five visits. It was the setting of their series victory in 2007 when Zaheer Khan led India to a seven-wicket win at the venue.
However, England’s record at the ground is nothing to be scoffed at either. Only once have the hosts been beaten at Nottingham over the course of the last decade. That defeat came against South Africa last year. Worryingly for India, England have won six of their last eight Tests at the venue.
Strong history for both teams at Trent Bridge.
