The Indian batsmen are certainly in fine fettle, but the visitors' effort on the field on Monday will attract a special attention as they had put up a close to pedestrian display in the last two matches.
Indians had struggled with their throws from the outfield in the first match at the Rose Bowl, enabling the English batsmen to convert the ones into twos with ease. The larger size of the venue had been sighted as the primary reason for the poor show on the field, but they continued their profligate ways in the second one-day in Bristol as well despite the smaller size of the ground.
Throwing from outfield was never going to pose a problem in the Bristol stadium that had only 55 yards boundaries. But the Indians displayed greased fingers this time to drop four catches – including two of Kevin Pietersen's – and only the enormity of the total that they had put on board helped them emerge unscathed from that match.
So it was not a surprise to watch the Indians devote some extra hours to fielding practices – long throws and catching – on Sunday. The sight of bigger boundaries of Edgbaston, one of the largest grounds in England, too might have played a part in that.
Busy day
It was a busy day for fielding coach Robin Singh as he spent time with all the players and monitored them closely in the practice session on Sunday. His cries of "excellent work" that often reverberated in the stadium reflected that the former India all-rounder was satisfied with the effort of his wards. Now, the onus is entirely upon them to translate it into a real match situation and that is critical for India's chances on the morrow.
More satisfactory news was in store for the Indians as pace spearhead Zaheer Khan participated in the fielding practice session that lasted nearly 45 minutes on the day. The Mumbai left-arm paceman missed the second one-day after picking up flu a day before the match.
Costly Agarkar
That prompted the team management to include Zaheer in the twelve. It might be a toss up between Ajit Agarkar and Munaf Patel for the third seamer's place. The return of Zaheer should strengthen the bowling department as it looked a bit flat in the previous game, especially with the new ball and Agarkar was very generous in conceding runs. The Mumbaikar had leaked 41 runs in his initial four overs and it took some tidy overs from spinners in the middle overs to check the run flow.
The spin duo's – Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar – good performance in the last match might prompt the management to retain them. It might also be to do with the fact that the English batsmen might attempt some big shots against the tweakers, increasing their chances of grabbing wickets in such a large ground.
The Indian batsmen too will be eager to repeat their batting performance of the last match. However, the larger dimension of this stadium means they will have to play their strokes a lot more judiciously than in the last match. They will also be releived to hear the news of Andrew Flintoff's stiffness in the right knee that might prevent him from bowling.
The Lancastrian had bagged five wickets in the last match to curb the Indian batsmen in the slog overs, and there will be further fitness Test for him in the morning on Monday. Pace bowler Jon Lewis has been summoned as a cover for Flintoff.
It will be a huge blow for the home side, if Flintoff cannot bowl as he had looked their best bowler even after missing the international action for months together.
That will force the team management to bring back Monty Panesar into the playing eleven as they had missed his services in the previous encounter when the Indian batsmen went on rampage against an all-pace attack. The left-arm spinner can be a handy customer in the middle overs.