AKCJ

Smith is absolutely bricking it.

Surely the almighty India won't back up celebrating the draw at Old Trafford with a celebration of a series draw??

There is some doubt!

Root has been majestic today. Showing why he's the best in the world at the moment.

Ghambhir will be sacked before he gets home. Gill has been sheepish IMO. He's let England get on top of his team when they had their foot on our neck.

Fatawu is the business. Pray he stays fit.

****ing hell big lad in the green there.

Krishna is a bit of a tit really. Not sure why he's constantly sledging Root. Wickets bring wickets. Obviously the longer you go wihtout taking one the more happy i'll be. But one wicket and Siraj immediately gets recharged with adrenaline.

Dzecko on the bench for them hahah he must be in his 50s.

Is this one on Youtube?

Brook is striking at 110-120 odd. One miscue and youve got a young Bethell coming out nervous as **** with his test career in the balance. Two quick wickets and you're essentially 240-6 with 130 required with only bowlers to come.

I feel like i'm in a battle to out-pessimist you but one wicket and it changes massively. 165 runs is a lot to get on a deck that is doing a bit and we only have Bethell, Smith, Tongue, Overton and Atkinson to come. Many twitsts to come but I this pair has done so well to get it to this point. I would say it's about 45-55 in India's favour. Probably Gill's toughest test as captain so far.

India are 250 runs ahead yet we're slogging it all round the park just wating to be caught. How can any cricketing mind think that this is a good tactic? This game will be over by tea.

Brook getting caught on the boundary edge... Thank **** Siraj walked over it.

Can't wait for Brook aiming to slog every ball. Despite 5 sessions of cricket still to play.

That'll be it I think. Was so important that Duckett stayed in. Unfortunately fielding has cost us in this one.

It's felt like quite an even surface in terms of batting/bowling. Your tail wagged for 100-130 runs yesterday because our bowlers were absolutely ****ed. We need to make sure we see off Siraj, Krishna and Deep and go after Jadeja and Washington. If we give your pacers early wickets then we'll lose because your bowlers will remain fit and firing. This morning is very key. We don't need to socre quickly because there is so much time left in the game. Play it smart and tire your bowlers out has to be the aim.

I'm not that much of a County cricket fan either but Matty Potts is one i'm annoyed doesn't get much of a go. He impressed when he broke into the test side. But it feels like England have set up expecting for the Ashes to have flat pitches with pace in them yet Australian pitches in the last couple of years ago have a lot in them for the bowlers. I think we might see a similar series to this one where England will be forced to bowl well in excess of 1k overs. Keeping out Cummins, Hazelwood and Starc on pitches that are designed for them is going to be bloody hard for the likes of Crawley and Pope who have clear technical deficiencies in their batting. I think Duckett will struggle too because he just does not leave the ball. They'll leave it on a length all day and wait for him to nick one.

I don't have a problem with Carse or Tongue as such but they're both expensive. The point i'm trying to make is that we don't really have too many bowlers that can hold a line and length and keep a batsman tied up. Atkinson and Archer can do it but their fitness is iffy so you can't give them a 7/8 over spell. It's all well and good being able to give the likes of Carse or Tongue the ball for an hour or so but they'll likely go for 4-5 an over. I 100% agree that we won't see a Jimmy or Broad for a long time but we should be looking to pick bowlers that can slow the game down while retaining a threat. I think we lack that balance in the squad.

Not a surprise that we can't keep any bowlers fit. That's not to forget that Stokes asks his bowlers to hit the deck hard with pace. It's not like we've got a Jimmy Anderson tying up an end bowling 80mph for 25 overs. We've got players like Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue bowling it all over the place at max revs.

Crawley just always lets you down.

You just know that there are plenty City fans that will buy the kit immediately and then go back to get some dodgy crypto scam sponsor printed on it too. Anything for Aiyawatt.

Coady strikes confidence into strikers. He's a believable player. The streets will forget him.

I think Brook and Atkinson have just got to go out swinging a bit now. Try and put on a quick 30 or so between them. I think it's more important that we can get through a bit of the Indian top order tonight because the Oval has a recent history of flattening out into a pancake.

Overton is having an all-time stinker. What an awful selection he's been. We knew he wasn't good enough and knew he wouldn't be (or shouldn't have been) in plans for the Ashes. Could have given Cook or Potts a go.