England vs India 2018: Should India bat or bowl first in the 4th Test?

#4 Team India’s performance in the current series

Huge responsibility on the shoulders of the captain and the vice-captain

In the current series, when Team India batted second in the first Test, they failed to chase down a modest fourth innings target of 196. On the other hand, when Joe Root invited India to bat first at Trent Bridge on a reasonably good pitch, India managed to bat through the first day and went on to dominate the match from thereon.

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#5 India’s strongest suit in the current series

The Indian bowlers in fine form

The bowlers were the champions for Team India in the current series. The bowlers failed to deliver only once in the series at Lord’s. Compared to that, the batsmen were struggling throughout the series and were partly successful only at Trent Bridge.

The risk for Kohli in opting to bowl first is that, if England gets off to a good start in the first innings, that will be the end of the series for India. On the other hand, if the batsmen, by some means, manage to put up a decent score on the board in the first innings, Kohli could fall back on his bowlers to deliver.

Even in the Lord's test, in response to India’s first innings score of 107, the Indian bowlers left England batsmen gasping for breath at 89 for 4 before Chris Woakes ’s unexpected century pulled England out of the woods.

In the present form, the Indian bowlers are better prepared to face the challenge than the batsmen. The bowlers should be able to defend any challenging total. The Indian batsmen, in their current form, should be better off batting first without any pressure of the scoreboard.

Any cavalier approach on Kohli’s part at the toss could spell disaster for Team India. Kohli won’t be condemned if he decides to bat first and his batsmen fail him. Alternatively, if Kohli chooses to bowl first and the match slips out of India’s hands, Kohli should be prepared to take the fall. Kohli should commit to memory what happened to Root at Trent Bridge.

Unless the conditions on the first day of the fourth Test are similar to the one at Lord’s, India should look to bat first and the Indian batsmen should be mentally prepared to face the ordeal.

Common sense suggests that India should bat first should they win the toss. After the misfortune at Trent Bridge, Kohli can’t expect Joe Root to repeat the favour. But Kohli should make certain that he doesn’t return the favour to Joe Root when the series is on the line.

Notwithstanding all the discussions before the toss, one can strongly feel that England would be batting first in the fourth Test, either by choice or by design.