Mumbai: Skipper Virat Kohli and opener Murali Vijay hit superb centuries to power India to 451/7 at stumps on the third day for a crucial 51-run first innings lead against England in the fourth Test here on Saturday

Kohli’s (147 not out) assuring presence helped them immensely after India were reduced to 348/6 at tea from 247/2 at lunch, in response to England’s first innings score of 400. Jayant Yadav (30 not out) was at the crease at stumps.

Vijay scored 136 to put India in a strong position from where they slipped before Kohli took control.

Joe Root (2-18), Moeen Ali (2-139) and Adil Rashid (2-152) were most successful bowlers for England.

(IANS)

© AFP

Mumbai: Having already pocketed the five-match cricket Test rubber, with an unassailable 2-0 lead, a confident India will be aiming to keep the winning momentum going when they face an inconsistent England in the fourth match at the Wankhede Stadium here from Thursday.

This will be the first instance since 1989 when India will play a Test at the Wankhede sans retired batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar.

The fourth Test will also give India a chance to exact revenge for their loss in their previous two Test meetings at the ground before heading to Chennai for the final encounter.

Going into Thursday’s encounter, the Virat Kohli-led side will aim to extend their dominant run despite some injury concerns in the squad.

The top-order batting has clicked well for the hosts with Cheteshwar Pujara and Kohli himself exhibiting great form in the middle while all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have handled any hiccups brilliantly lower down the order.

Senior wicketkeeper-batsman Parthiv Patel, who was drafted into the national side after after an eight-year long wait, has displayed good maturity behind the stumps as well as an opening bat with scores of 42 and unbeaten 67 in the third Test at Mohali.

But with the return to fitness after a forearm injury of opener Lokesh Rahul, Patel may be asked to bat down the order.

Youngster Karun Nair, who made his Test debut at Mohali, looks likely to make way for Rahul.

Kohli will however, be concerned with the form of opener Murali Vijay who has failed to click in this series so far.

Kohli’s deputy Ajinkya Rahane, however, has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test rubber after the Mumbai batsman sustained an avulsion fracture on his right index finger during training on Wednesday.

Manish Pandey has been named as Rahane’s replacement.

The bowling department have so far fared decently with pacers Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami managing to be amongst the wickets with the new ball.

However, Shami’s concerns with a sore knee makes him a doubtful starter. In his absence, Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be Umesh’s likely new ball partner.

Local boy Shardul Thakur has been named as a back-up option in case Shami is ruled out of the squad.

The spin department, comprising the trio of Ashwin, Jadeja and Jayant Yadav have well established their supremacy over the English batsman and Kohli is likely retain the trio at the spin-friendly Wankhede.

India will also aim to keep their 16-match unbeaten streak and are just one short of equalling their own unbeaten record of 17 games without a loss.

On the other hand, despite conceding the series, the visitors are expected to come hard after spending a week away in Dubai.

England had also replaced two injured players — teenaged opener Haseeb Hameed and left arm spinner Zafar Ansari — with two uncapped players — Keaton Jennings and Liam Dawson.

For any chance of reviving their fortune in the ongoing series, the visitors will bank on their batting, which has failed to click as a unit so far.

Skipper Alastair Cook will be expecting atleast two of his main batsmen — Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler and stumper Jonny Bairstow — to spend enough time in the middle while handling the Indian spinners.

Promising left-handed opener Jennings is likely to partner Cook at the top.

Meanwhile, the return of pacer Stuart Broad, who missed the third game after sustaining a foot injury in the Visakhapatnam Test, will lend enough teeth to their bowling attack.

The visitors are likely to go in with four pacers with leg-spinner Adil Rashid and Moeen filling the spinners’ slots.

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Manish Pandey, Ravichandran Ashwin, Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur.

England: Alastair Cook (Captain), Keaton Jennings, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Gareth Batty, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Ben Duckett, Steven Finn, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes.

(IANS)

Dubai: After leading India to an unassailable 2-0 lead in the five-match Test rubber against England, skipper Virat Kohli on Wednesday vaulted to a career best third spot in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings for Test batsmen released here.

The 28-year-old Kohli, who scored 62 and six not out to help India crush England by 8 wickets in the third Test against England at Mohali, moved to 833 points, within 14 points of second-ranked England’s Joe Root in a list led by Australia captain Steve Smith.

Starting the series in 15th position, Kohli has risen at a fast pace scoring 405 runs in the three Tests against England, according to an ICC release.

Kohli, who is top-ranked in Twenty20 internationals and second in One-Day Internationals, looks determined to top the table in Tests, the only format in which he has never been top-ranked.

The remaining two Tests provide more opportunity to Kohli, who had led India to victory in the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia in 2008.

England’s Jonny Bairstow has also reached a career best ranking of 9th — a leap of three places with knocks of 89 and 15 while Australia opener Usman Khawaja has moved up nine places to 19th after a match-winning knock of 145 that helped Australia win the day-night final Test against South Africa in Adelaide by seven wickets.

For South Africa, Faf du Plessis’s innings of 118 not out and 12 have helped him move up eight positions to 23rd rank while opener Stephen Cook has moved up 30 places to a career best 44th position after scoring 40 and 104 in Adelaide.

New Zealander Ross Taylor has moved up four places to take the 18th slot after scores of 37 and 102 not out in New Zealand’s 138 run victory over Pakistan in Hamilton.

In the ICC rankings for Test bowlers, India’s Mohammad Shami has moved up two places to a career best 19th position in the list led by his teammate Ravichandran Ashwin.

Ashwin’s spin partner Ravindra Jadeja occupies the 7th spot.

Australia pace bowler Josh Hazlewood has moved into the top five for the first time in his career after taking six wickets in Adelaide. He has moved up four places to take fifth position.

Meanwhile, in the list of all-rounders, Jadeja has gained two slots to reach a career best fourth slot after scoring a crucial 90 in his only innings in Mohali.

Ashwin has consolidated his position at the top with 493 points, a tally not reached by anyone since retired South Africa player Jacques Kallis in 2008.

(Agencies)