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Before the start of the series, England’s best chance of winning a Test in India was the day-night Test in Ahmedabad. The fact that England go there with the series level at 1-1 has changed the dynamics in a big way.
England know this could be the series-defining Test and their opportunity to do what India did in Australia. On the other hand, India’s chances of earning a World Test Championship final spot are a little bit in jeopardy. If they lose this Test (or the next), they will be out of the race.
India, though, are expected to stick to their blueprint at home, which is to score big in the first innings and back the bowlers to take 20 wickets. While it may not look like their batsmen have dominated so far, each of India’s top six has got at least one 50-plus score in the series. What India would want them to do is to convert those starts into big, match-winning knocks as Rohit Sharma did in the second Test.
Another thing in India’s favour is that they will field their…