3 players likely to be dropped for the 5th Test

After India's disappointing loss against England in the fourth Test match of the five-match series, three players find themselves in an extremely vulnerable position and are likely to find themselves out of the playing eleven for the fifth and the final Test. While the series is done and dusted, the final Test match will be a lot about salvaging lost pride and ending the series on a positive.

It is noteworthy that apart from the Lord's Test, India have been highly competitive and came extremely close to winning, often losing the game in its clutch moments. This inability to capitalise on momentum can be put down to severe inconsistency of three players in the team, who are likely to be replaced for Friday's game.

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Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan's last 10 Test innings read the following: 17, 23, 44, 35, 13, 26, 107, 16, 16, 67. While even KL Rahul has been inconsistent, this isn't the first time that Dhawan has had a sub-par run at the Test level.

He is one of those players that hammers a hundred on a cement deck whenever one of those gets dished up and retains his place on the back of this performance. The last one of these came against Afghanistan in Bengaluru, when India scored a mammoth 474 on a dry pitch and bundled the opposition out twice in a row.

Before this, there was the hundred against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. It is essential to realise that the left-hander's technique is simply not suited to playing the swinging ball. Dhawan finds himself constantly pushing at balls in the channel, and often edging to the slips or gully. It this is not the mode of dismissal, then there is the LBW when his head tends to fall over while playing the incoming ball.

What's worse is that he shows no effort to rectify and morph his technique to change the conditions. At 32 years of age, it looks like the end of the road for Dhawan, with young opener Prithvi Shaw included in the squad.

2. Hardik Pandya

Yes he has taken a 5 wicket haul, yes he has made a fifty; but Pandya's contributions been few and far between. What is interesting is the fact that the allrounder, along with Virat Kohli, has been the only constant in India's Test match scheme.

While everyone around him has been chopped and changed, the team management is finding it extremely difficult to drop the allrounder. His last 10 Test scores read: 0,4,52*,18,26,11,31,22,71,4, which is clearly an underwhelming contribution. If these scores were not enough to convince you, the number of overs he has bowled in his last 10 innings read the following: 9, 8, 14, 6, 17, 1, DNB, 10, 4, 5.

It doesn't seem like Pandya has much work to do as a 4th seamer and it's not like he is taking a truckload of wickets either. India might be better off replacing him with a specialist batsman and have the extra cushion of runs, which is the department where India have found themselves struggling the most.

3. Ravichandran Ashwin

Ashwin is a legend at home. He has mastered the arm of dominating batsman on the spitting dust-turners on the subcontinent. However, being the sole spinner the playing eleven, a lot of onus rests on him to make use of dry conditions on overseas pitches. It must have been heartbreaking for any Indian to watch an English spinner getting 8 wickets in the match, while their once top ranked bowler could only manage to get 3.

Removing Ashwin from the one-day setup has severely impacted his game, using far too many variations than required. Maybe dropping him is a bit harsh, but then Ravindra Jadeja is another man who is waiting for a chance on the fringes. It seems that Ravi Ashwin might need a bit of time to reflect.