India to press for 4-1, England too fancy themselves at 'home'

Ahead of the IND vs ENG 5th Test premier offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be eyeing a memorable outing as he will make his 100th test appearance on Thursday The hosts have maintained their record by sealing the series and will be looking forward to extending the streak by securing the win in the IND vs ENG 5th TestThe pitch and the cold weather in Dharamshala that makes the English men feel at home have been the two big talking points ahead of the IND vs ENG 5th TestAlso Read IND vs ENG 5th Test A match full of milestonesThe maximum temperature is expected to hover around 10 degrees for the opening two days before rising over the weekendThe pitch wore a flat look on the eve of the game but the moisture seeped underneath will keep the pacers interested in the early hours of play on all daysThough traditionally the venue favours fast bowlers the role of spinners cant be discounted and they did play a big part in Indias win over Australia in the only Test played here back in 2017In the recently held four Ranji Trophy games the teams were able to score 300 plus on multiple occasions with the highest total of the season being 482 posted by BarodaAshwin and Jonny Bairstow both of whom will make their 100th Test appearance on Thursday expressed contrasting views on the surface going the match Bairstow found the pitch nice while Ashwin said both teams will be entering unknown territory considering the cold weatherAlso Read IN PHOTOS Players with the most wickets after 99 TestsIndia is however unlikely to tinker with their bowling combination of two pacers and three spinners Jasprit Bumrah will return to bolster the attack with Mohammed Siraj being the second pacer Ashwin Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav who have been able to play only 11 Tests since making a successful debut back here in 2017 will share the duties in the spin departmentIndias KL Rahul not being available for the final clash due to fitness could provide another opportunity for Rajat Patidar The youngster is still to make the most out of the chances He has just scored 63 runs in six inningsThe IND vs ENG 5th Test could be the last chance for Patidar to keep his place in the squad Devduut Padikkal is another batsman the team management can look forSarfaraz Khan who announced his entrance into international cricket with a blistering halfcentury on debut in Rajkot was not able to score many runs in Ranchi He will look to make it big before the redball season comes to an endYashasvi Jaiswal who is just a few runs from becoming the second Indian batsman after the great Sunil Gavaskar to score 700 runs in a test series will also be in peoples sightMental fatigue hasnt set in as England aim to end tour on a highEngland have already lost the series their first in the Bazball era but there is still plenty to play for before they return home after a long tourBairstows 100th Test milestone will be celebrated through the week and by the looks of it the England cricketers are enjoying in this scenic town with the cold weather adding to their comfortThe righthander has been well below par in the series and would be aiming to make his 100th Test outing an unforgettable one by regaining his lost formEngland fans have also arrived here in big numbers giving the players another reason to come up with a special performanceI dont think that anyone is thinking like that Ben Stokes said on Tuesday when asked if players are already thinking about returning homeWe feel every opportunity to play for England is special Thats just our mentality and our mindset regardless of where you are or how long youve been away But that shouldnt take away from the fact that this place is pretty special the skipper told the travelling British mediaEngland who went with only one specialist pacer at the start of the series and had two of them featuring in the last game will continue with the latter formula here tooVeteran James Anderson will partner Mark Wood who will replace Ollie Robinson Shoaib Bashir who is nursing a sore spinning finger and Tom Hartley have come of age in their debut series and will be the two specialist spinnersSquadsIndia Rohit Sharma C Jasprit Bumrah VC Yashasvi Jaiswal Shubman Gill Rajat Patidar Sarfaraz Khan Dhruv Jurel WK KS Bharat WK Devdutt Padikkal R Ashwin Ravindra Jadeja Axar Patel Kuldeep Yadav Mohd Siraj Mukesh Kumar Akash DeepEngland XI Ben Stokes C Zak Crawley Ben Duckett Ollie Pope Joe Root Jonny Bairstow Ben Foakes Tom Hartley Mark Wood James Anderson Shoaib BashirMatch starts 930 am ISTWith PTI Inputs