Team India is travelling to Manchester with one aim: levelling the India vs England Test series at 2-2. The young team has outperformed expectations and, in 15 days of cricket played, has often outplayed the hosts. Despite their best efforts, India is trailing 1-2.
What England has done well is winning the major moments. Whenever they have been given a slight chance, they have exploited it. The inexperienced Indian team has failed to win, despite being on top until the fifth in the first and third Test matches. The aim would now be to change that.
Many believed going for personal milestones was why India lost the Lord’s Test. That Rishabh Pant runout changed the match. But to level the series, India would want their batters to chase some personal milestones.
New gen ready to take over
We are into the fourth cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC). And as we stand, Rohit Sharma, who recently retired from Test cricket, is India’s best batter in the tournament’s 6-year history. But Rishabh Pant has the chance to change that. Granted, he’s fit for selection; the wicketkeeper batter needs just 43 runs to go past Rohit’s run tally.
Despite his major dip, Virat Kohli was India’s second-best batter until Pant took over at Lord’s. Indian captain Shubman Gill will have the chance to claim the third spot and push Kohli down to fourth. His task will be slightly more difficult, since he needs to score 118 runs in the fourth Test at Manchester.
One can’t forget that Gill has already scored 607 runs in 3 matches. His failure at Lord’s means that he’ll be more ambitious than ever to score big. Getting 118 runs across two innings doesn’t seem impossible at all, especially given his form.
Most runs for India in WTC
| Batter | Mat | Inn | Runs | Avg | SR | 100s | 50s | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rohit Sharma | 40 | 69 | 2716 | 41.15 | 58.32 | 9 | 8 | 212 |
| Rishabh Pant | 37 | 66 | 2677 | 43.17 | 74.29 | 6 | 15 | 146 |
| Virat Kohli | 46 | 79 | 2617 | 35.36 | 51.72 | 5 | 11 | 254* |
| Shubman Gill | 35 | 65 | 2500 | 41.66 | 62.43 | 8 | 7 | 269 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 42 | 64 | 2212 | 40.96 | 50.01 | 3 | 16 | 175* |
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