By Thomas Rooney
Cricbuz

London, Aug 8: Over a week may have passed since the second test match between England and India, but the events of Trent Bridge are still fresh in the memory.

Stuart Broad's incredible spell of bowling on day two, Ian Bell's mature century at No.3 and Tim Bresnan's contribution with bat and ball - these are just three factors that spring to mind when looking back to the match in Nottingham.

India's problems haven't exactly gone away since England secured a 319 run victory either. Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan have all been ruled out of the series and the India bowlers were subject to an opening stand of 201 during their two day game with Northamptonshire.

MS Dhoni's men certainly have it all to do to lift themselves for the penultimate match of this test series. To retain their place as No.1 side in the world, they must come back fighting at Edgbaston. For this to happen they have to win some individual battles during the five days.

England v Virender Sehwag

India's poor form in the first two matches can perhaps be attributed in some part to the lack of firepower at the top of the order. Virender Sehwag has been missing through injury and India have missed the attacking opening batsman. He is back in contention for Edgbaston though and India will be expecting a lot from him. The tourists have lost their first wicket with the score on 63, 19, 0 and 6 so far and they need more from their openers.

England won't relish Sehwag being back in the side and they will know that he brings an added quality to the Indian batting line-up. So, the way they deal with him is going to be key to third test. Sehwag is suffering from hearing loss at the moment and this will no doubt be tested by the words he might receive from the England fielders. They will remind him about how much pressure is on him to turn things around for the tourists.

Sehwag can set the tone for his side. If India win the toss and bat first, it gives Sehwag the chance to show England that times are a changing in this series. The pressure is of course on him, but he should relish the challenge of taking on England's bowling attack.

Ian Bell v Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid has featured heavily in these key match up articles, but this is no coincidence. He remains one of the most important players in India's team. His call up to the One Day International squad perhaps highlights how crucial the tourists see him to be to the fortunes of the team. Dravid is likely to return to No.3 in the order this week having performed as an opener at Trent Bridge. This is why he is up against Ian Bell in the head-to-head stakes.

Bell is to bat at No.3 for England following the injury to Jonathan Trott. It cannot be underestimated how important a position this is. If your No.3 batsman is firing on all cylinders, it makes everything else seem a lot easier.

Both Bell and Dravid are fantastic batsman to watch when in full flow and they are arguably the most technically correct pair across both sides. They will both aim to be the batsman that the rest of their team can build an innings around. The England man is only 27 runs behind Dravid in this series too, so he would love to use the promoted position of No.3 to move past the man that has been leading the way for India on this tour.

India v India

The third key battle isn't a traditional one between two players. It is the contest India have with themselves to recover from 2-0 down in this series. Of course, England have been at the top of their game at times, but India have had their opportunities. They have had their spells on top and they need to turn these into winning positions.

The return of Sehwag will of course help, but it is the players that have been involved already that need to raise their game, led by captain Dhoni. The individual performances of the Indian skipper have been poor so far and he has to produce more.

There are of course other leaders in this Indian side. Each and every one of them needs to take this series by the scruff of the neck and get on top of England. Are India good enough to defeat England? Of course they are. It is now time to show it.

The tourists have reached now or never time. Its backs against the wall and the watching Indian public will not accept another heavy defeat. This is the most important match of the series for India and with the help of some fresh faces, they have to believe in themselves and perform.

If India need to raise their level of performance, England need to maintain their own. Then we will have the tight matches we expected at the beginning of the series. The entertainment level is likely to be high once again in Birmingham, but India need to change the flavour of proceedings. They can still salvage something from this series and the comeback must begin first thing on Wednesday morning.

A confident England awaits to see what India are made of. 

Teams:

England (From): Andrew Strauss(c), Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior(w), Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett, Ravi Bopara, Steven Finn

India (From): MS Dhoni(w/c), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Abhinav Mukund, Wriddhiman Saha, Amit Mishra, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Pragyan Ojha, RP Singh, Virat Kohli.

Umpires: Steve Davis(Aus), Simon Taufel(Aus)
Third Umpire: Rod Tucker(Aus)
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle(SL)

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