Daijiworld Media Network
Manchester, Aug 7 : India have never won in Manchester in 8 attempts while the hosts have never lost here since 2001.
It's time to wrap up the newspapers segment. It is currently drizzling and covers are on the field. The weather forecast through the course of the entire five days does not seem all that promising either. Do stay with us for further updates.
'Team-composition dilemmas, the individual drive for perfection, the anticipation that precedes a Test and even the one eye on the whimsical weather, are part of the charms that adorn cricket. The tricky one is the second, in which the headlines have been grabbed by the James Anderson-Ravindra Jadeja issue and the International Cricket Councils (ICC) interventions.'
He writes, 'The current series has witnessed two parallel worlds. The first is the sporting one, in which M.S.Dhoni's men play matches and the skipper mulls over his selection options. It is also a backdrop that has featured Alastair Cook sneaking in well ahead of Tests, having long chats with coach Peter Moores, doing rapid push-ups and then batting non-stop against throw-downs.'
K.C.Vijaya Kumar's preview for the Hindu carries the headline: Can the Indians bounce back in crucial Test?
'For the past two days, the Indians have been obsessed with the sweep shot. Virat Kohli has spent most of his playing time at the nets being on the knees and endlessly repeating the horizontal bat shot. He was also seen discussing the paddle sweep with MS Dhoni. Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane too seem to be planning to take the sweep option against spinners. India couldn't have competed with England in the head-to-head pace contest, but in case Dhoni includes two spinners in the side, there happens to be some hope'. writes Sandeep Dwivedi for The Indian Express.
India have won the toss and have opted to bat
Great news as the covers on the main square have been removed. The umpires are in the process of nailing in the stumps. It looks to be brightening as well. Well, we have news about the toss - it will happen at 11:00am local and play will begin at 11:30. So just the half-an-hour delay.
The covers are coming off one by one, but the main square is still covered. The inspection should gives us more answers to all your questions. Meanwhile, it's Duncan Fletcher who is doing all the talking in the Indian team huddle. Everyone listen in intently. By the looks of it, was a serious discussion.
Cook: 'It looks a good wicket despite the overhead conditions. It is nice to have Finn back. We will have to build the pressure on India, hopefully we do that.'
Dhoni: 'We are looking to bat first. The conditions are overast but looks like a good batting wicket. We have three changes. Gautam comes in for Dhawan, Ashwin replaces Rohit and Aaron is in as well, he comes in for Shami. It is important to rotate the bowlers. Aaron is the quickest. We wanted to play five bowlers. It is a nice question to ask irrespective of what the answer is (when enquired about the 5-bowler theory). What is important is to win sessions, that's where we will move forward.'
England (Playing XI): Alastair Cook(c), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler(w), Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
England may have mulled over Finn getting a look in ahead of Jordan but they give the latter another go.
India (Playing XI): Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni(w/c),
Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Varun Aaron, Pankaj Singh