It’s not often that, without sustained interruption from the weather, Test matches have gone the distance in recent times. This series has been markedly different. Despite no more than a marginal part played by the elements, two of the three Tests have spilled over to the final session of the last day, the other ended after tea was extended with England nine down on Day Five.

It’s a development few would have expected when Shubman Gill’s India arrived last month with oodles of inexperience in their kitbag. Several of the top-order batters hadn’t played a Test in England previously; among the bowlers, only Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav (one outing) had had taste of Test cricket in this land. There were apprehensions that following the retirements of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and R Ashwin, India would wipe the floor. But Gill’s warriors have acquitted themselves with credit, competing with the hosts on an equal footing and unlucky to find themselves 1-2 down.

Akash Deep out due to injury

The collective courage and spirit of a team that has played above itself will be put through the sternest examination yet at Old Trafford when the fourth Test gets underway on Wednesday. A bouquet of injuries has swept through the Indian camp since their 22-run loss at Lord’s last Monday. Nitish Kumar Reddy is out of the series with a knee injury, while Akash Deep (groin) and Arshdeep Singh (left hand) are unavailable for this Test. Given that Nitish and Deep have played influential roles, they will be bad misses but as the cliché goes, one individual’s misfortune is another’s 
opportunity.