Debasis Sen,Port of Spain: A confident Indian team lead by captain Virat Kohli will look to regain the No 1 test ranking as it takes on the West Indies in the fourth and final test match of the series. On a high after sealing the series with comprehensive victories in Antigua and St Lucia, an upbeat India will be aiming to complete a 3-0 rout against a listless West Indies at the Queens Park Oval on Thursday.
Having already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series after their crushing 237-run win in the third Test, Virat Kohli and his men will be aiming to go for the kill in their bid to displace Australia from the pole position in the ICC Test rankings list.
However a draw at the Queen’s Park Oval would mean that Australia will maintain their top position while Pakistan by virtue of their creditable 2-2 draw against England will be the No 2 Test team.
With skipper Kohli making it clear that he will like to have Rohit Sharma at No 5 and promote himself to No 3, it is unlikely that the core batting line-up will have any change in the final Test match.
However with Shikhar Dhawan not having much of a performance barring his 84 in the opening Test, it will be interesting to see if Murali Vijay, who was dropped in the last game despite being fit makes a comeback in the playing XI. The opener’s thumb injury has fully healed, as announced by batting coach Sanjay Bangar previously. At this point of time, Cheteshwar Pujara getting a lifeline seems unlikely. India might go in with the same bowling attack they fielded in St Lucia. The fast bowling trio of Ishant Sharma, Md Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were all given a break yesterday from practice session which was marred by rain.
It is unlikely that there will be any change in the batting order unless captain Kohli is in an experimental mode. Away from these permutations and combinations, India look set in their plans. Their energy will be focussed on attaining consistency, and as the skipper put it, in expressing themselves.
The standout performer in the series for India has been Ravichandran Ashwin, who is now world No 1 all-rounder in Test as per the official rankings.
With two centuries and two five-wicket hauls, the Tamil Nadu lad has been the toast of the team. His 235 runs and 16 wickets have gone a long way to ensure that India have cantered to victory in the two Test matches. More importantly, the off spinner has scored runs in pressure situations and provided crucial breakthroughs just when it was required.
If Ashwin is a sure shot candidate for the Man of the Series award, one certainly needs to applaud Mohammed Shami for his lion-hearted performances in the three-Test matches after a hiatus of nearly one and half years due to serious knee injury.
11 wickets in 3 games may not be much in terms of volume but he has been very effective with the new as well as the old ball. The most experienced West Indian Test batsmen like Marlon Samuels and Darren Bravo had been troubled by the Bengal speedster.
Among the batsmen, opener KL Rahul (236 runs) has been pretty consistent with a big hundred and a half-century in the two Tests while Ajinkya Rahane has again showed why he is such an important cog in the Indian team’s wheel with 243 runs that includes a ton and a half century.
Skipper Kohli is still top run-getter with 251 runs but it’s more to do with the double hundred that he scored in the opening Test.
There has been this debate whether the visitors have done just enough keeping in mind the relative weaknesses of the opposition and never moved out of third gear. West Indies, meanwhile, will be hoping for some level of improvement in their play after yet another meek surrender.
It goes to be seen whether the men in blue can make it 3-0 on a ground on which they successfully chased the highest fourth innings total back in 1971. A dominating performance over the next five days will ensure Virat Kohli and his men reach another milestone on this ground.