The series is all spiced up, India have bounced back from oblivion at Lord's and suddenly are riding a wave of momentum. Their side looks assured, whereas England look hassled. Injury concerns, form concerns and combination concerns have left the hosts grappling at the last moment.
And then comes the initial few pictures of the pitch and if reports and images are to be believed, the Southampton strip has a fair share of green tinge, which should lend more interest to both the camps.
The series so far has been more reliant on the bowlers and any assistance on the surface will only gladden their hearts. The batsmen on both sides have faltered and if the nature of the pitch remains the same on the morning of the match, expect another trial by fire for the blokes with the willow.
Toss becomes very important
Also, the toss becomes equally important. Joe Root won the toss at Lord's and elected to bowl first on a surface which sent the Indian batting in an almighty daze. Virat Kohli and his bowlers would want to use the surface first in order to put the jittery England batting lineup under more pressure.
For the first time in his captaincy tenure, Kohli could go in with an unchanged squad, but visuals from India's net practice suggest that he might just be tempted to go in with Umesh Yadav instead of Mohammed Shami who did not have an entirely good match at Nottingham.
Also, there is a cloud over R Ashwin's availability and as such Ravindra Jadeja could slot in as the lone spinner. However, as per local knowledge, the pitch at Southampton often flatters to deceive and does not do too much for the seamers.
"Mohammad Shami, too, tried to play down the five-pace attack theory. "It's difficult to play five pacers, what if the ball starts to turn in 3-4 days? But all I can say is that there will be a result on this pitch and it should be a good result for us," Shami said at the pre-match press conference.
