England on the brink, India look for five

December 8-12, 2016
Start time 9.30 local (0400GMT)

Small margins. England have lost two Test matches because they haven't minded them as much as they are capable of, and now, they have to win in Mumbai to stay alive in the series.

India are not without troubles themselves. Their lead fast bowler Mohammed Shami has a sore knee and middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane broke his right index finger in the nets* and has been ruled out of the series. Karnataka batsman Manish Pandey and Mumbai seamer Shardul Thakur have been added to the squad as cover.

England are also carrying some aching players - chiefly Stuart Broad - but it is their performance so far in the series that would concern them more.

Alastair Cook has spoken about how he leads a side that can match India for skill and that the bowling they have faced has not been magical. Those comments were meant to put perspective on the scoreline that reads 2-0 against them; words that would have been stronger had they not been steeped with frustration.

James Anderson and company have bounced M Vijay out enough times to suggest a pattern and R Ashwin has had to man rescue operations from the lower-middle order. England have made their plays, had their chances, even won two tosses, but have been found wanting when the moments to dig in have arrived.

A week's worth of rest and time with family should have lifted their spirits though. Plus, if anything could help England forget how they let the opposition get away from 156 for 5 to 417, or how they lost wickets in the last over before stumps twice, it could be their return to Mumbai, the venue of one of their most famous victories.

India, on the other hand, drew the game in Rajkot despite chasing most of it, slammed two hundreds to offset the openers' fall within the first five overs in Visakhapatnam, and took four wickets in the morning session in Mohali to erase a spate of fielding errors. The tenacity that Virat Kohli's men have shown has been a welcome sight to their fans. More importantly, it has put them in a position to win their fifth Test series in a row. Only once in 84 years has an Indian team achieved that. Wankhede Stadium takes centre stage, again.

(completed matches, most recent first)

India WWDWW
England LLDLW

One game into his comeback from a hamstring injury, KL Rahul found himself on the bench nursing a forearm injury. Can't fault a man for blows sustained at short leg, though. He was first in the nets on Tuesday and is expected to play in Mumbai. It must help that Rahul has the unwavering backing of the team management, especially considering the stop-start nature of his career. A big innings wouldn't go amiss either, considering he made 0 and 10 in his previous game.

At times, especially in the last Test, Ben Stokes looked the only England bowler capable of getting wickets. That was because he never stopped trying. The allrounder was tireless in the pursuit for reverse swing, or the far more rare movement off the pitch. More of his resolve would be necessary for the team to come back from the position they are in.

Karun Nair should retain his place in the middle order after Rahane's injury. A call on Mohammed Shami will be made on the morning of the Test. If he is unfit, India may bring Bhuvneshwar Kumar back into the XI. Parthiv Patel retains his role as wicketkeeper with Wriddhiman Saha yet to recover from his thigh strain. KL Rahul should slot back in the top of the order.

India (probable) 1 KL Rahul, 2 M Vijay, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Karun Nair/Manish Pandey, 6 R Ashwin, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Jayant Yadav, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Mohammad Shami/ Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Stuart Broad had a 50-50 chance of playing in Mumbai following his foot injury three weeks ago. He did some light training on Tuesday and should he be ready to play, England may well go in with four seamers and two spinners. Keaton Jennings will debut as opener in place of the injured Haseeb Hameed.

England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Keaton Jennings, 3 Joe Root, 4 Moeen Ali, 5 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jos Buttler, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Stuart Broad/ Steven Finn, 11 James Anderson

This series has been played on surfaces that have largely behaved themselves, and the trend is likely to continue. There will be spin, of course, but reports suggested it won't alarm batsmen until the third day.

Pressure to me is people who can't afford food or who are struggling to live. This is just a game of cricket. I'll give it my best shot.
England allrounder Moeen Ali