India v England 4th Test at The Oval Preview and Highlights

t is the fourth and the final Test match of the series between India and England and if one would have said that going into this game, England would be leading 3-0, most would have shrugged off such suggestions with disdain. 

Unfortunately for the Indian fans, this is exactly what has happened, the world number one ranking has come and gone and if India does lose this Test match at Oval as well, so will the number two ranking too.
England are on a roll, quite simply and there have not been too many chinks for them. The one area of concern was their opening partnership which had failed in the first two Test matches but even that was rectified in the third game – and how! Andrew Strauss made an 87 and his opening partner Alastair Cook slammed a 294 as England strolled to a 700-plus score against India for the first time in the Test history.
Of course, for this game, there will be a sense of relief for the English team, having won over the peak of the Test rankings for the first time ever since they were introduced and that could be something that the coach Andy Flower will be wary of. It wouldn’t do the side too much good to let up now, although, the worry is with the injury issues to James Anderson and Chris Tremlett. Tremlett has been ruled out of the game while Anderson’s fitness will be assessed before the start of the game Thursday.
Not that India have been spared fitness issues either. Already reeling from the various absences in the series, Praveen Kumar could join the list as well, as he struggles to recover from the kind of fatigue that bowling the humongous number of overs will always bring. He had had issues towards the end of the third Test match as well and the last thing that the Indians will need is for him, the Indian spearhead to break down. If he does not play, one of Munaf Patel or RP Singh could be seen for the first time in the series – both rather surprisingly undercooked and for different reasons.
Munaf has been lolling around on the tour so far, getting the odd warm-up game, getting hit for runs and retreating back into his shell. On the other hand, RP Singh landed in England out of wilderness on the first morning of the third Test match and it will be a surprise if he can even land the ball on the spot.
All said and done, the Indian batting will need to come of age if they want to have anything going for them in this game. The ball has surely swung around but three Test matches into the series, one would expect the Indian batsmen to do better than what they have done so far. England will be looking for their first whitewash in many decades.