The era of invincibility that the Indian cricket team boasted in the subcontinent for more than a decade is set to be bludgeoned by an outstanding England side, as both nations head into the final Test in Nagpur with the visitors leading the four-match series 2-1.

Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen
Reuters

Where to Watch Live

The fourth Test starts on 13 December and live coverage start from 3.30 am GMT every day, on Sky Sports 1 and Sports 1 HD.

Overview

For just the third time since the turn of the century, India go into the final Test of a series at home needing a win to level the contest. During this period, which spans 23 series and over 60 matches, we have witnessed how difficult it can be for visiting teams to beat the Indians on home turf, particularly with spin-friendly pitches.

However, the English are set to prove the summer's domination of MS Dhoni's men (during India's tour of England) was not a fluke. Alastair Cook has ensured the visitors cannot lose the series and based on recent form, they are favourites to post a first series win in India since 1984/85.

Meanwhile, Dhoni has several problems to tackle ahead of the Nagpur Test. Cook (538) has scored more runs, this series, than Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni combined. The Indian captain will now be desperate for his batters to pile on some runs. He must also ponder over the ineffectiveness of his spinners on spin-friendly tracks, poor fielding, unimpressive captaincy and a general lack of confidence.

Pitch and Conditions

The playing surface is understood to be dry and should favour spinners from the second day. The outfield seems to be thick, hinting the fast bowlers might struggle. The previous three Tests at this ground have all produced results, with the team winning the toss choosing to bat first on all occasions and winning twice.

Team News

India: The hosts have dropped seniors Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh from the squad for the final Test. The trio will be replaced by all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, pacer Parvinder Awana and spinner Piyush Chawla, with the first two being called up to the Test squad for the first time in their careers. Sachin Tendulkar, who has struggled for form in this series, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni remain in the team, despite calls for the latter to resign his captaincy.

Probable Line-up: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Parwinder Awana, Ashok Dinda, Pragyan Ojha

England: Stuart Broad is a major doubt for the match. The 26 year old suffered a recurrence of a heel injury in training, which kept him out of the hosts' final warm-up game before the series started. The pacer, who was dropped for the third Test in Kolkata in favour of Steven Finn, has been sent for a scan to find the extent of the problem.

Probable Line-up: Alastair Cook, Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Samit Patel, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Steven Finn, James Anderson, Monty Panesar

Match Progress:

Day 1: England 199/5 (J Root 31, M Prior 34; I Sharma 2/32)

Day 2: England 330 (J Root 73; P Chawla 4/69); India 87/4 (G Gambhir 37; 3/24)

Day 3: England 330; India 297/8 (V Kohli 103; J Anderson 4/68)

Day 4: India 326/9 decl (V Kohli 103; J Anderson 4/81, G Swamm 3/76); England 161/3 (J Trott 66 not out; R Jadeja 1/27)

India