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With the Test series between India and England now sealed – India boasting a 3-1 series lead heading into the final match – England will be keen to end the tour in style with victory at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala.
The Fifth Test, which begins on the morning of Thursday, March 7, is just the second long-format international played at venue built in 2003. In March 2017, India hosted Australia there, winning by eight wickets.
The Indian XI is very much changed seven years on, with just spinners Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav likely to feature. Eighteen of the 32 wickets fell to spin on that occasion, but the media reports suggest that this game could offer the most seam friendly conditions of the series.
However, the match could be the subject of weather delays with snow and sleet forecast for day one. The city of Dharamshala sits on the edge of the Himalayas – with the temperature set to drop to –4 degrees Celsius during the night.
India are a healthy 8/13 to claim victory, with England a 3/1 outsider and a draw at 9/2. After day one the weather should settle down, with plenty of time to secure a result in the contest, especially with the rate at which England play.
The undoubted star of the series with the bat has been Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal who has amassed 655 runs in eight innings at an average of 93.57 - hitting 63 fours and 23 sixes. To put his six-hitting exploits into perspective, Indian superstar Virat Kohli has hit just 26 maximums in his entire Test career.
Jaiswal has been dismissive of the England bowling attack, scoring runs at will. The opener is 11/5 to hit the most match sixes, 7/5 to hit the most match fours, 5/6 to score over 87.5 runs – he's hit that mark in all four Tests this series – and is 10/11 to hit Over 9.5 match fours – again, a mark he has hit in all four matches against England.
A rested Jasprit Bumrah should enjoy the conditions in Dharamshala. He has 17 wickets in three matches this series at an average of 13.65. He also boasts a strike rate of under 30.00, taking a wicket on average every five overs. He has taken over 5.5 match wickets in three of his last four outings and should be expected to take five or more here.
For England, the conditions play into their hands, with Zak Crawley a candidate to thrive. The England opener scores runs quickly off pace, and if he can get on top of the Indian attack early, he could enjoy the facilities in Dharamshala. He is the only England batter to notch a trio of half centuries this series, but he is yet to go on to make a big score.
His batter match four line of 5.5 (4/5) is exploitable, and at 7/2 to score the most fours for England throughout the match, there are backable options for the Kent star. A modest 55.5 match runs line has been set, he could easily knock that off in under 25 overs.
With the ball, Mark Wood is rested and enjoyed some success in his last outing in Rajkot taking 4-160. His raw pace, with over three weeks rest, could cause a somewhat inexperienced Indian batting line-up problems. In the Indian Premier League (IPL), pace has been supreme in Dharamshala, Wood to be the game's Top 1st Innings Bowler at 14/1 is a longshot worth a small wager.
