London, September 03:
India look
set to pick the same side that routed England in the third Test
when the two teams clash for the series-decider at the Oval
beginning on Thursday.
"I think you'll find
that our combinations will be pretty similar to Headingley,"
coach John Wright said in an interview to BBC Sport last night,
hinting that India would go in with the dual spin attack of Anil
Kumble and Harbhajan Singh.
"We may look at one or
two things but we seemed to get the formula right there," he
said.
India dominated
throughout the five days of the third Test at Headingley,
winning by an innings and 46 runs to level the series at 1-1.
And Wright singled out
Sanjay Bangar, who scored 68 after being brought into the side
to open the batting, for special praise.
"I think having Bangar
open the batting made the difference and we had a good first day
following on from that," Wright said.
"In fact it was a
pretty good team performance and we caught well - we took some
good catches at some critical juncture particularly in the
second innings."
India start the final
Test as the marginal favourites, which could be a major boost,
the former New Zealand captain said.
"We're happy to be in
this situation. We fought well at both Trent Bridge and
obviously at Headingley we got it all together.
"After the first Test
(which India lost) we're quite happy to be in the situation
we're in. But there are always labels bandied around and I think
the two sides are pretty evenly matched."
Besides being the
series decider, Thursday marks Sachin Tendulkar's 100th Test
appearance for India. "At 29, he's still got a lot of cricket
left. It's a great achievement (to reach his 100th Test) and
we'd like him to have a very successful Test match."
As regards The Oval
wicket, he said it has still got a little bit of moisture but
there's still two days to go.
"I'd like to think that
we'll start with a pretty dry wicket which makes for good
viewing for the public," he said.
