India prepares for Oval cricket Test after Headingley bruising

The India versus England cricket Test series now stands levelled at one all, with a lot resting on the fourth Test at the Kia Oval cricket ground in London, starting later this week.

India's batting let them down at Headingley, Leeds, as they were knocked out in the first innings and then crumbled on the fourth day, resulting in a bruising defeat to Joe Root’s team by an innings and 76 runs.

The last match has led to questions over whether an extra specialist batsman should be added to the line-up for the final two Tests. Indian captain Virat Kohli, however, dismissed the idea of fortifying the batting.

"I don't believe in that balance, and I have never believed in that balance because either you can try and save a defeat, or you can try and win a game. And we have drawn games in the past with a similar number of batters," he said after the third Test.

While not being at his best form, Kohli stuck by Rishabh Pant: "With one loss, I cannot start analysing that as a captain. We are not failing as a team consistently. We failed as a team in this game, and we take responsibility for that.

“We want to give Rishabh all the space to play his game and understand situations. You cannot judge people all the time on numbers, whether they are succeeding or failing, that is not how you build a team."

With the upcoming third Test in London from September 2, India will hope to make a comeback to the story they had started scripting, with both teams now evenly poised for the five-Test series.