The fourth act. It is the endpoint of a narrative where the protagonist conjures up all resources available in an attempt to overcome overwhelming adversities engulfing them.
For India, England has been a foe forged in hell. The gash inflicted in Hyderabad, where it bungled a 190-run lead, is still fresh in its mind. A spate of injuries and a few forced absences haven’t helped.
But, somehow, India heads to a potential fourth act, at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi on Friday, knowing that a win will all but behead the fire-breathing nemesis that is England.
No touring team has ever gone at more than four runs an over in a series in India. England is well on course to break that barrier. Its impetuosity with the bat has been headed by Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett, who have gone at a faster clip than any other overseas opening pair in a Test series in India (with a cut-off of four innings).
No team has pressed India in home Tests this hard in recent years. Even in the record defeat it incurred in Rajkot, England was well and truly in the game, if not ahead, until the morning of Day 3.
The Three Lions though trail in this series, mostly due to their inability to press the advantage home when it truly mattered. Except for patches, the English bowling has been ordinary, often forfeiting the advantage its batters have earned through all the hell-raising.
England’s struggles have been exacerbated by the poor form of its senior batters - Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes. Root’s shot selection – a failed reverse scoop in particular – has provoked an almighty outcry back in England, one that is usually reserved for political scandals.
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Stokes, the batter, on the other hand, has so far failed to embody the spirit of ‘Bazball’, which is pretty close to being proclaimed as a ‘way of life’ by its raucous believers. Only Root has a lower strike rate than Stokes among the English top-order batters in this series.
England though will have one less thing to worry about in Ranchi, with India resting pace ace Jasprit Bumrah, who has taken more wickets than anyone in this series.
The 30-year-old has been as important as anyone in India holding a 2-1 lead. But, with a T20 World Cup and a Border-Gavaskar Trophy looming on the horizon, it only seemed right that the Indian management kept Bumrah on the sidelines.
Rahul Dravid would have been egged on in the Bumrah decision by the performance of the other Indian bowlers in Rajkot. Mohammed Siraj rifled in fiery yorkers aplenty in the first innings to end with four wickets. Meanwhile, the spinners – Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and R. Ashwin – were relentless across both the innings.
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India will be tempted to rope in another tweaker – Axar Patel being the likeliest option – to double down on England’s frailties against the turning ball, on a seemingly spin-friendly surface.
KL Rahul’s failure to recover from a quadriceps injury means Rajat Patidar will likely get another crack, after having struggled in the deep end of Test cricket in his first two attempts.
The rest of the Indian batting unit has largely absolved itself of the fourth-innings capitulation in Hyderabad, with runs flowing in from all corners. Add to that the seamless induction of Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel to the spine, meaning India never had to fall back on the excuse of missing Virat Kohli.
The crowning jewel of the batting lot has been Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is on a double-hundred hat-trick. No Indian left-handed batter has scored more runs in a Test series than what the 22-year-old has made in the ongoing one against England.
With four potential innings left to go, the Mumbai batter has given himself the chance to go after Sunil Gavaskar’s Indian record of most runs in a Test series (774, against West Indies in 1971).
Jaiswal’s opening partner Rohit Sharma will have fond memories of the JSCA Stadium, having scored his first and only Test double-hundred at the venue, in 2019 against South Africa
For England, the magnitude of the defeat in Rajkot has prompted a rethink in its approach. The tall off-spinner Shoaib Bashir comes in for leggie Rehan Ahmed, while it preferred the control of Ollie Robinson over the pace of Mark Wood.
Only a brave man would write off England. Over the last two years, the Brendon McCullum-coached side has played cricket at a nearly never-before-seen breakneck style with great success.
But now, the Englishmen have their backs to the wall, against an opponent waiting to pounce on the slightest misstep. And if their words are to be believed, the swords will be drawn higher than ever. Add to all this a rain forecast for the later part of the Test, and the drama intensifies.
Set up your screens, get hold of your favourite snack and sit back. A rollercoaster of a Test series is likely to get its defining fourth act.
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