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Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDane van Niekerk has nine wickets from 18.2 overs at Grace Road•ICC

Dane van Niekerk returned to the venue of her history-making spell against West Indies to produce a performance par excellence, with bat and ball, to demolish India in Leicester.On a dry and mostly placid track, the South Africa captain used flight, drift and, for large parts, lack of turn, to finish with 4 for 22 off her 10 overs. That spell was the full stop to India’s ambitions of pulling off the third highest chase in Women’s ODIs. In the end, they lost their first match of this World Cup, falling short of the target of 274 by 115 runs, and might well rue their decision to bowl at the toss.Mithali Raj, who had made that call, came into the match needing 34 runs to becoming the highest run-scorer in Women’s ODIs. She arrived at the crease with India on 47 for 2 but, after misjudging a straighter one, was bowled for her first ever golden duck. So it was that Van Niekerk won the battle of the captains. Her legspin sparked a collapse as India slipped to 65 for 7 and best of all, she had ensured South Africa stayed in the running for a semi-final spot.Lizelle Lee’s innings played a large part in things turning out the way they did. She smacked a brutal 92 off 65 balls with seven sixes – the third time she has struck as many – to lead South Africa to an imposing total. It was well beyond anything India had chased down in ODIs.There were ominous signs right from the start, when Marizanne Kapp, the No. 1-ranked ODI bowler, struck with her second ball. Smiriti Mandhana, having flayed her first ball for four through point, was caught at deep square leg.Poonam Raut and Deepti Sharma went about rebuilding the innings with a 43-run second-wicket stand but that period of stability – the only one for India – ended when Ayabonga Khaka produced a slower ball to deceive the advancing Raut and bowl her.Mithali was handed her first duck in five years by van Niekerk, who then trapped Harmanpreet Kaur lbw in the same over. A ripper from Khaka – pitching on a good length and nipping away off the seam – took care of Veda Krishnamurthy and her stumps. Shikha Pandey ran past a legbreak from van Niekerk and three overs later, Sushma Verma ran herself out as India went into freefall at 65 for 7.If not for Deepti’s composed 60 off 111 balls – which exemplified how good the pitch was to bat on – India might have struggled to even cross 100.Mithali later explained that she was persuaded to bowl at Grace Road by people informing her that it was a chasing ground, and she also wanted to follow the template from the Women’s World Cup qualifier final when India beat South Africa by hunting down a target of 245.But those plans did not account Lee’s belligerence. She was separated from her opening partner Laura Wolvaardt in the second over but that seemed to only spur her on. She took the wicket-taker Pandey for two fours and a six to double South Africa’s score – 16 at the time – in a single over.The biggest way in which Lee upset India’s bowling was by taking on Ekta Bisht. The left-arm spinner has been a vital source of wickets during the middle overs, but here, she was smashed for 25 runs in 11 balls by the South African opener, and finished with figures of 9-0-68-2.Lee’s knock was extremely well constructed. Her first fifty runs came off 44 balls, the next 42 came off only 21. Wide deliveries were slapped with force through extra cover. Taking pace off the ball didn’t work for she simply came down the track and exploited the short straight boundaries. Long-hops were duly dispatched over cow corner and by the end, Lee found herself with seven sixes in the innings, equaling her own South African record in ODIs.India seemed like they had gained respite when Harmanpreet had Lee lbw in her first over, and with it being the 21st of the innings, there was still time for a salvage operation. But van Niekerk wouldn’t allow for it. Having come in during the 28th over, she held steady until the 44th, when she survived a run-out as Goswami couldn’t collect the throw at the bowler’s end. That reprieve got her going as she went from 31 off 49 balls to 57 off 66, pushing her tally to seven fours and a six.

West Indies allrounder Roston Chase called his fighting century on the final day of the series against Pakistan the “toughest” of his career, after he ran out of partners with only one more over to see out a draw in Roseau.He was left unbeaten on 101, his third Test century, when Yasir Shah bowled Shannon Gabriel with the last ball of the penultimate over of the Test.”I wouldn’t say it’s up there with the other two but a century is a century,” Chase said after the match. “We ended up losing the match but this one was the hardest for me. The others were more fluent and the conditions were a lot easier but this one was really tough for me. The pitch was a slower one, you couldn’t play a lot of shots, the outfield was very slow and the bowlers really put the ball in good areas. This one was the toughest out of my few so far.”I thought it was a fighting effort. It’s sad to see that it didn’t mean much in the end because we lost the match but I thought the guys showed a lot of guts and effort not only today but in the whole match. [We] even put ourselves in the chance of, maybe not winning but, at least drawing the series.”Chase recalled how Yasir had dismissed him in three out of six innings in the UAE last year, when and he had averaged 22.50 in the three Tests. In this series, Chase was out to Yasir twice in six innings but the batsman said he had found a way to counter the legspinner.”I didn’t really do that well in Dubai, so after that series I came home and worked on some of the things that I thought brought my shortfall in Dubai,” Chase said. “Especially Yasir Shah got the better of me a lot and this was mainly because he was tying me down and then I was just falling to a bad shot because of the pressure.”When I went back home, something I really tried to work on was my sweep shot because that would put him off a little and change up the field and give me a little bit more scoring options. I thought that really was the key, seeing that he was there all series, so once I got through him it was a little easier for me to play the other bowlers.”Chase’s hundred was not chanceless though. He was dropped twice by the debutant Hasan Ali, and then Mohammad Abbas had him caught in the slips on 92 but replays showed the bowler had overstepped. He was cheered on by the crowd in Roseau.”It’s always good to hear people calling your name,” Chase said. “So many guys are asking me if I’m actually from Dominica. I was always a big fan of the drums, so I love the drums and I love the Dominican fans.”With 403 runs in six innings, Chase finished the series on top of the run-scorers’ list, averaging 100.75 with two centuries and two half-centuries. No other batsman made more than 300.”Even though I’m always a confident guy, it does [add] a lot to see that I average a 100 in the series against a quality attack,” he said. “I’m not going to let it get to my head and I’m going to go back home and the next Test series is England, so hopefully I should be there. I’ll go and look at some footage of the English guys and see what weaknesses they have, what I’ll be looking to exploit and see if that can work. Work hard on those weaknesses so that I can put up some good performances in that series as well.”

ScorecardIt was a memorable match for Liam Norwell•Getty Images

Gloucestershire picked up their first Specsavers County Championship victory of the season by beating Leicestershire by an innings and six runs at The Brightside Ground in Bristol.Having scored 466 for 8 declared in their first innings, Phil Mustard’s side bowled out Leicestershire twice, inside two days, with Liam Norwell returning match-winning figures of 10 for 99.The win will certainly go some way towards softening the blow of last week’s heavy defeat at the hands of Kent. For Leicestershire, however, there is little or no consolation. That’s two chastening defeats in as many games.Resuming on 165 for 6 on day three, the visitors soon found themselves in trouble at the hands of Norwell, who bowled very well indeed from the Ashley Down End. The Dorset-born seamer sent back Clint McKay in the first over of the day to celebrate his 200th first-class wicket.To their credit, Ned Eckersley and Richard Jones proved what was capable with an ounce of application and a genuine appetite for the fight, as they added 89 for the eighth wicket. Unfortunately, for the visitors, it was never likely to be enough to help the Foxes avoid the follow on and subsequently, another disappointing loss.Eckersley led the way with 88 off 103 balls, having passed 50 off 66 deliveries. However, when he departed, bowled by Norwell, at 255 for 8, Leicestershire were still well short of their initial target of saving the follow on.Gavin Griffiths became Norwell’s fifth victim of the innings, four runs later, and with Colin Ackermann unable to bat after retiring hurt on day two, their innings came to a close on 259 for 9.Unfortunately for Leicestershire, whose second innings progressed to 6 for 0 at lunch, the afternoon session was every bit a disappointing. And it was that man Norwell who was once again responsible.Bowling in tandem with David Payne, Norwell ripped the heart out of Leicestershire’s top and middle order. After Payne had kicked off the session by having Paul Horton caught by wicketkeeper Mustard for 6, Norwell sent back Harry Dearden, Neil Dexter and Mark Pettini during a seven-over spell that saw him return the impressive figures of 3 for 19.When Payne added his second wicket, that of Mark Cosgrove at 51 for 5, the game looked as though it would be all over by tea.Thankfully, for Leicestershire, Eckersley knuckled down to the task in hand and added 86 with Ben Raine for the sixth wicket. Having helped himself to a first half century of the summer in the first innings, Eckersley was unbeaten on 53 at tea, having passed 50 off as many balls, with eight fours. The pair had looked in little trouble until Raine carelessly ran himself out for 42.McKay’s cameo – 29 off 39 deliveries – once again held up Gloucestershire. However, when Norwell had the Australian caught in the slips by George Hankins, shortly after tea, the end was nigh.Mustard picked up a wonderful catch to send back Richard Jones in Payne’s next over and though Eckersley batted beautifully for 85, he finally holed out to Jack Taylor on the point boundary off the bowling of Norwell. A fitting end for the bowler who deservedly received a standing ovation from those who saw it.

Anil Kumble, India’s head coach, has said he is happy India and Australia have agreed to move on from the DRS-related controversy that flared up in the aftermath of the Bengaluru Test match. He also confirmed that the two captains, Virat Kohli and Steven Smith, would meet match referee Richie Richardson before the start of the Ranchi Test.”I think what was important was to bring the focus back on cricket and I am really glad that the BCCI took a mature call along with Cricket Australia to issue a joint statement that cricket needs to move on and we have moved on from whatever happened in that background,” Kumble said on Tuesday, two days before the third Test in Ranchi.”That’s really important because focus obviously has to be on the game, and I thought we made a fantastic comeback after losing the first Test, especially day two and day three (of the second Test); they (Australia) were ahead and to come back from there and win a Test match was rewarding.”M Vijay missed the second Test match with a shoulder injury – it turned out that the opener had been carrying it since the first Test in Pune, but neither Kumble nor Kohli had mentioned it in the lead-up to the game when asked about the fitness of their players. Now, asked if Vijay was fit to play in Ranchi, Kumble said he was “fine”.”Yeah, he’s fine,” Kumble said. “He is a part of the squad, so he is good.”Ranchi will be the 12th Test of India’s home season – which began soon after a four-Test tour of the West Indies – and Kumble was pleased with the way his players had coped with the physical and mental challenges of playing so many games in a relatively short span of time.”I think they have responded really well,” he said. “It’s been a long season, not easy playing 17 Test matches on the trot. Back to back, especially for the bowling unit. And of course the batsmen, it takes its own toll.”Touch wood we have had very little injuries – of course (Mohammed) Shami is injured as a bowler and he is coming back. So we had some injuries but they have responded well to the challenges that have come about. Lots of overs under the belt and that’s something that obviously augurs well. If you are winning constantly and keep performing the way we have been performing at home that helps. That’s been the hallmark.”You can’t point to just one individual in the whole season that has given us these results. I think every individual has stood up and the captain had led from the front. So it’s really nice and augurs well that each individual has contributed to the success.”We would like to finish the last two Test matches in a very good way, and I am sure it will be something that we will be cherishing at the end of the season.”Kumble praised his bowlers for the intensity they have shown through the season, particularly on day two in Bengaluru, which he called a “fantastic day of Test cricket”.’He may not have a five-wicket haul but every time he has bowled, he has looked like he would pick up a five-for’ – Anil Kumble on Umesh Yadav•AFP

“I thought day two was a fantastic day of Test cricket. It was attritional. Only 190 [197] runs were scored in the entire day and we picked up six wickets. But the intensity all the four bowlers bowled with, especially the fast bowlers … It was brilliant. And I think that resulted in the win.”It showed the character and that’s what you want to see in a team… You want to see a lot of character and lot of pride in the way we go about doing things and coming back and winning a Test match.”With Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami missing chunks of the home season with injuries, Umesh Yadav has bowled the most overs – 284.5, with Shami a distant second at 178.1 – among all of India’s fast bowlers in 2016-17. Though his returns – 22 wickets at 39.22 – have not been proportionate to his efforts, Kumble was pleased with Umesh’s bowling through the season. He also hailed Ravindra Jadeja for drawing level with his spin partner R Ashwin at the top of the ICC Test bowlers’ rankings.”We have seen certainly seen what Umesh is capable of.” Kumble said. “Although he doesn’t have the kind of wickets that you would expect, the way he has bowled and the way he has given us those breakthroughs – he may not have a five-wicket haul but every time he has bowled, he has looked like he would pick up a five-for. And that’s the kind of maturity and improvement Umesh has shown.”Yes, the chunk of the wickets have been to the spinners, and I am glad that Ashwin will always be spoken about, but I am really glad that Jadeja has come up and done what he is capable of. Really glad that both of them are currently on top of the ICC rankings.”When asked if the pitch in Ranchi – which has been at the centre of speculation, particularly in the Australian media – would produce a contest lasting five days, Kumble said he didn’t know.”I don’t know. We only hope we will win,” he said. “How many days the Test will last I wouldn’t know. But I only hope there will be a result and it will be in our favour.”Kumble brushed aside reports in the Indian media that suggested the BCCI was looking to appoint him director of cricket and hand over the head coach role to Rahul Dravid.”I have also heard from the media, it is news to me, from the media,” he said. “There is nothing else, no one has spoken about it.”

Australia’s hopes of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy have been dealt a major blow, with fast bowler Mitchell Starc flying home due to a stress fracture in his right foot.Starc suffered the problem during Australia’s loss in the second Test in Bengaluru and after the pain failed to disappear in the days following the match, he was sent for scans on Friday, which revealed the fracture.”Mitchell experienced some pain in his right foot during the second Test in Bangalore which unfortunately had not subsided a few days after the Test as we had hoped,” team physiotherapist David Beakley said.”We made the decision to scan his foot in Bangalore this morning and unfortunately it has revealed a stress fracture. Subsequently, this means Mitchell will be unavailable for the remainder of the tour of India and will return home to Australia to start his rehabilitation.”Australia’s selectors are yet to name a replacement player for Starc, but as the backup fast bowler in the squad, Jackson Bird looms as the most likely inclusion for the third Test, which begins in Ranchi next Thursday.Starc will be the second player to fly home in the wake of the Bengaluru Test, after allrounder Mitchell Marsh was ruled out of the remainder of the series due to a shoulder injury. Seam-bowling allrounder Marcus Stoinis will join the squad as a replacement for Marsh.Although spinners have been more successful than fast men so far in this series, Starc picked up important wickets in both Pune and Bengaluru. He also showed his value in Asian conditions on last year’s tour of Sri Lanka, when he claimed a remarkable tally of 24 wickets at 15.16 from three Tests.Australia’s selectors have plenty of options to replace Starc, including the leading Sheffield Shield wicket-taker of the summer, Chadd Sayers, the in-form Western Australia left-armer Jason Behrendorff, and Pat Cummins, who this week took eight wickets in his first Shield match for nearly six years.It is expected that Starc will be available for the Champions Trophy later this year.

Mohammad Nawaz was having a rough night with the ball in Sharjah. The three overs he had bowled until the 20th had already gone for 46. Excessive dew meant he could barely grip the ball and it hadn’t helped that he was bowling one-over spells. There had been moments of smartness – the key dismissal of Mohammad Hafeez was one, and without the ball the catch to dismiss Shahid Afridi was, in hindsight, the moment the game turned.But he had already conceded four sixes and three fours, thus defending six off this final over, with a two-time World T20I winner on strike, could only produce an unhappy ending.Leaving him, or the rookie left-arm spinner Hasan Khan (3-0-36-0) with the last over, in fact, had seemed like a mistake. And when Tymal Mills’ valiant but unsuccessful effort at short third man off the second ball actually helped the ball along to the boundary, the game was done. Except it wasn’t.Nawaz conceded a single off the next four balls. He dismissed Chris Jordan first, a flatter, quicker delivery that found the edge and which Sarfraz Ahmed did well to hold on to. And then two inch-perfect yorkers in succession forced two run-outs, allowing Quetta to pull off a sensational one-run win – a margin replicating last year’s playoff win over the same opponents.”There was a lot of pressure, the way the ball had been coming on to the bat and how wet it was,” Nawaz told Geo TV. “But our plan was to bowl the first three balls outside off and break it away.”Once the equation came down to two off three, the plan changed. Among others, Kevin Pietersen, playing his last game of the tournament, suggested going for yorkers.”KP said on the fifth ball ‘just bowl a yorker’. It came out perfect. On the last ball a few said bowl length, some said go for the yorker. But we agreed to bowl a yorker and they just came out perfect.”I had a lot going through my mind at the time. But I was also calm, thinking I could do this.”Nawaz was one of the poster boys of the PSL’s first season, the very reason such a league was created in the first place – to bring to the fore young players like him and turn them into big-game players.He was the third-highest wicket-taker last year and his 13 wickets included arguably the ball of the tournament: a delicious, orthodox spinner that undid Brad Hodge, incidentally also in the playoff win over Peshawar.Finding his feet with Pakistan has not been as simple, in any of the formats, even with their desperate search for any kind of allrounder. But bowling an over like this – all of it to international cricketers – can be an important developmental landmark.”Absolutely, this is one of the best overs I have bowled. In such a big match, on this pitch, with so much dew. Especially after that kind of over I can’t help but feel pretty confident.”This is how big players are made, when they perform in big matches like this. This is only the start of my career, but in future I hope to learn more from it and keep performing.”

Scorecard
Babar Azam switched back to limited-overs cricket nicely with 98 off 113 balls•Cricket Australia/Getty Images

Babar Azam’s 98 and fifties from Sharjeel Khan and Umar Akmal powered the Pakistanis to 334 before Hasan Ali led the bowling with 3 for 18 to help defeat Cricket Australia XI by 196 runs at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane.The Pakistanis were sent in to bat in their only warm-up game before the start of the five-match ODI series. Asad Shafiq opened the innings with Sharjeel, but that experiment failed when he was caught and bowled by fast bowler Henry Thornton who finished with 3 for 69 in his ten overs.But between Thornton’s first and second wicket, the Pakistanis put on 262 in just over 40 overs. This effort was led by Sharjeel, who scored a 39-ball 62 and put on 83 for the second wicket with Babar, who then stitched partnerships of 78 for the third wicket with Shoaib Malik (49 off 60) and 101 for the fourth with Akmal (54 off 39), before falling two short of a hundred. The Pakistanis’ lower order added 54 off the last seven overs to lift them to 7 for 334. Captain Azhar Ali came in at No. 8 and scored a run off the only ball he faced. Medium-pacer Cameron Green finished with 3 for 59.The Pakistanis’ opening bowlers Imad Wasim (2 for 23) and Hasan Ali then dealt early blows to the hosts, taking the first four wickets within the first eight overs. A fifth-wicket partnership of 47 between Jason Sangha (20) and Josh Inglis – who top-scored with 70 – brought some stability, but was broken by Malik (2 for 20). Rahat Ali, Mohammad Nawaz and Azhar all took a wicket each, before Hasan returned to finish the innings.

South Africa will host Bangladesh for the first time in nine years to open what is set to be a bumper 2017-18 summer, although their opponents for the Christmas-New Year period are yet to be confirmed. South Africa will host at least 10 Tests, including four each against India and Australia. Details of those tours are expected early in the new year.

Bangladesh’s itinerary in South Africa

• September 21-23: Three-day tour match v SA Invitation XI, Benoni

• September 28-October 2: 1st Test, Potchefstroom

• October 6-10: 2nd Test, Bloemfontein

• October 12: Tour match v SA Invitation XI, Bloemfontein

• October 15: 1st ODI, Kimberley

• October 18: 2nd ODI,Paarl

• October 22: 3rd ODI, East London

• October 26: 1st T20I, Bloemfontein

• October 29: 2nd T20I, Potchefstroom

The Bangladesh visit, between September and October 2017, has created the opportunity for Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom to host their first Tests since 2008 and 2002 respectively. The two venues had hosted Bangladesh in those years but have not hosted matches in the longest format since.Bangladesh’s tour includes two Tests, three ODIs – all day-games – and two T20s. All matches will be played at South Africa’s lower-profile grounds. Kimberley, Paarl and East London will host the three ODIs.After the Bangladesh series, South Africa are scheduled to host India for a full tour comprising four Tests, five ODIs and three T20s but it is yet to be confirmed whether these will take place over the Christmas and New Year period or later in the summer. The FTP originally had Sri Lanka down to tour over Boxing Day and New Year, for the second season in succession, but there has been no mention of whether that series will take place. There was also a suggestion that Pakistan could be invited. According to the FTP, Pakistan are scheduled to play India in November-December 2017.”Our scheduling discussions with the BCCI are in progress and we hope to be in a position to announce the fixtures for this tour in the new year,” Haroon Lorgat, CSA CEO said.India’s previous visit to South Africa was in 2013-14, when they cut short a tour that was due to be of the same length as the upcoming one because of disagreements over the scheduling. India only played two Tests and three ODIs on that visit but hosted South Africa for four Tests, five ODIs and three T20s late in 2015.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo – Mohammad Nabi struck six fours and six sixes during his 87 off 37 balls•BCB

Mohammad Nabi raised Chittagong Vikings from the dead and led them to 190 before Taskin Ahmed’s career-best T20 figures of 5 for 31 sank the chase. Nabi hit his maiden BPL fifty off 25 balls, and converted it into his highest T20 score. Nabi clattered six fours and six sixes in front of a sell-out home crowd.Nabi walked in at 68 for 4 after the fall of Jahurul Islam and added 105 for the fifth wicket with Anamul Haque, who contributed with 50, including four fours and two sixes. Nabi took his time to get his eye in, before gradually shifting gears. He smashed Darren Sammy over long-off for his first six in the 13th over and then sent Sri Lanka allrounder Milinda Siriwardana over cover in the next over. Nabi hit full tilt when he hammered Abul Hasan for four successive boundaries in the 18th over, which eventually produced 20 runs.Sixteen runs came off the next over in which Nabi was dropped on 60. Anamul, meanwhile, reached his first BPL fifty since 2013. His joy, though, was short-lived as he holed out off the next ball. Nabi, however, hit three boundaries in the last over, propelling his team to 190. They ended up 76 runs off the last five overs.Rajshahi’s chase never found rhythm, though Mominul Haque and Junaid Siddique added 44 for the first wicket. Mominul got going with four consecutive fours in the second over before becoming Taskin’s first victim in the fifth over. Siddique, Mominul’s new opening partner, who had joined the squad a couple of days ago, made 38 off 28 balls but fell to Grant Elliott when the chase needed a higher gear.The onus was then on Sabbir Rahman, who had stroked 122 in his previous match against Barisal Bulls. He added a rapid 34 for the third wicket with Umar Akmal, who managed 21 off 12 balls. Sabbir was then dropped on 24 by Mahmudul, but he failed to capitalise, driving early against Imran Khan jnr’s back-of-the-hand delivery and holing out to Tamim Iqbal, who completed a sharp diving catch.A similar delivery from Imran also accounted for Darren Sammy, who was Rajshahi’s last hope in the chase, in the 17th over.Taskin, who had earlier taken the wickets of Mominul and Akmal, also accounted for Siriwardana, Mehedi Hasan and Farhad Reza to finish with his maiden five-for in T20s. This meant he became the third Bangladeshi bowler after Al-Amin Hossain and Abul Hasan to take a five-wicket haul in the BPL. Rajshahi eventually fell short of the target by 19 runs.

Match facts

November 9-13, Rajkot
Start time 9.30am (0400GMT)0:30

Ganguly picks his India XI for Rajkot

Big Picture

As per popular perception, India the country appears to hold a special spite for England the cricket team. What else could the host broadcaster’s sales pitch always be trying to play on? In 2011 the advertising mocked an effeminate white man. India lost 4-0. In 2012-13, the ad campaign centred on playing the Englishmen like musical instruments. India lost 2-1. Thankfully this time the promotion is merely announcing that Virat Kohli and his team will play the England team (and not – Englishmen, the nationality – like last time) like a band.There is good reason to believe India will have it easy. They have looked near invincible at home since the start of the last season with the guile of R Ashwin and the accuracy of Ravindra Jadeja not giving visiting batsmen any breathing space. This side has fewer weak links and unfit bodies than the one that lost to England four years ago. Since that series England have lost two match-winning spinners and a genius batsman who could turn Tests single-handedly.In Bangladesh, Alastair Cook had to hide his spinners in his side’s 1-1 draw, a series in which the home spinners took 38 of the 40 England wickets. They are also without James Anderson, one of the finest exponents of reverse swing, for one Test at least.While England struggled against Bangladesh, India had a response for everything New Zealand threw at them in a 3-0 series win. The lower order scored runs when the batsmen failed, the spinners kept finding ways to get batsmen out, the quicks chipped in when the spinners tired or when the ball reversed, and there was no let-up in the intensity in the field. They will just want to keep repeating what they have been doing over the last two home series as they take Test cricket to a new outpost: Rajkot; the Saurashtra region has a rich history of providing Test cricketers and patronage to the sport.If England are to win a Test, they will need to take all of New Zealand’s discipline and add to it. They will have to reverse the ball, which New Zealand couldn’t but England did in equally humid conditions in Bangladesh. Their lower order scored crucial runs in Bangladesh, but they will have to keep doing so against a much more accomplished attack. They have been given a small opening through injuries to KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan; they will have to capitalise on that.Along the way they will have to repeat what they did in Bangladesh: win a toss; India have not been put under scoreboard pressure since the pitch revolution in the country. England are the only travelling team to win a toss in the last 15 Tests in Asia. They won the Test. Only on one other occasion over this period has a team won a Test in Asia despite losing the toss.

Form guide

India WWWDW (last five matches, most recent first)
England LWLWW

Watch out for…

Local boys Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravindra Jadeja have honed their skills, playing hours and hours of tireless cricket, in this arid land. Jadeja learnt his fielding here, diving on the bare grounds. Pujara got his patience and wrists scoring tons of runs on the slow pitches of Saurashtra. Jadeja learnt his bowling by operating against the insatiable batsmen of the Pujara variety. The Test venue is a new ground where they haven’t played much of their cricket, but in front of their home crowd they might feel a little more responsibility is on them – especially Pujara, because India’s batting line-up looks a little susceptible now.Ben Stokes must have horrible memories of playing India. On a dead Trent Bridge track where tailenders scored runs for fun, he scored a duck, followed by an utterly forgettable pair as England collapsed twice at Lord’s. The Stokes that comes to India is a different player altogether. He is the man England will go to when they need lower-order runs. He is the man England will go to when they need reverse in Anderson’s absence. He is the man England will go to when they need inspiration. When they need magic. If India manage to keep him subdued, you will know England are done for.The Big Three might be on its way out as a concept, but whenever these three teams play each other, things get ugly. India and England are two of the worst-behaved teams in the world, but only in each other’s, or Australia’s, presence. India have just played out a series against New Zealand in good spirit and England won hearts in Bangladesh, but expect shenanigans and skirmishes in this series. Forget who has sinned or not, it is usually a matter of who casts the first stone, after which all hell breaks loose.

Team news

With injuries to three key batsmen, India have to rejig their trusted winning combination. While Gautam Gambhir should continue to be the replacement opener after he looked in decent touch when he played against New Zealand in Indore, there are two spots that are not yet decided. One of them will go to a debutant. A like-for-like replacement for Rohit Sharma at No. 6 would be Karnataka’s Karun Nair, but the presence of Hardik Pandya in the squad depends on the pitch. If India consider the pitch to not be helpful enough, or if they see England as a bigger batting threat than New Zealand, they could play Pandya as the fifth bowler who bats at No. 8. Pandya could even be the second quick if India decide to play three spinners. However, given the pitch looks like the one in Kanpur, expect India to play two spinners and two quicks with Ishant Sharma edging out Umesh Yadav.India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 M Vijay, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Karun Nair/Hardik Pandya, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 9 Ravindra Jadeja, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Ishant Sharma/Amit Mishra/Umesh YadavEngland have already announced that the 19-year-old Haseeb Hameed with become the youngest debutant England opener of all time. Ben Duckett, who scored a half-century in his last innings in Bangladesh, will get another opportunity, but this time at No. 4. That means Jos Buttler, who promises aggression and unorthodoxy that can test India, must wait for his chance on this trip. With the presence of allrounders in the side, England are likely to play six bowlers: three quick and three slow.England (probable) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Haseeb Hameed, 3 Joe Root, 4 Ben Duckett, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 Gareth Batty

Pitch and conditions

This is Rajkot’s Test debut, but first-class numbers at this relatively new ground hold enough hints of what to expect: 20 five-wicket hauls for spinners in 16 matches. In Jadeja’s last match here, all 39 wickets falling to bowlers went to spinners. Jadeja took 13. There are cracks running across the length of this pitch although there patches of green too. Having said that, it is nothing England won’t expect given the recent trend of pitches in Asia – barring the UAE. If it is any consolation for them, this pitch is not expected to turn as much or as early as the ones in Bangladesh did.The outfield and the square are lush green to discourage reverse swing, but it is likely reverse will be down to humidity. England did extract reverse swing in Bangladesh, and the air in Gujarat is way drier than in Bangladesh.

Stats and trivia

• India have taken part in 33 series of five Tests or more. They have never won more than two Tests in any of them
• Stuart Broad will become the 14th England player to play 100 Tests. He averages 145.5 against India in away Tests against 17.79 at home
• R Ashwin averaged 52.64 in the last home series against England, but since then Ashwin has taken 99 wickets in four home series at an average of 16.56
• England have the best record for teams visiting India since 2000, winning three and losing four Tests
• Virat Kohli averages 20.12 against England. He has done better against every other opponent.

Quotes

“The mindset is to not compete anymore, it is to win every Test and series. For that you have to be at your A game all the time, and keep improving your A game.”
Virat Kohli has high ambitions, and hopes to match them with the hard work and skill
“We are coming as massive underdogs, there’s no doubt about that. Obviously India have got to No.1 in the world and played some brilliant cricket here, so we’re very aware this is a huge challenge. We’ll have to learn very quickly. But also we’ve got nothing to fear, because not many of our side have actually played cricket over here.”