India begin again, once more

Will Old Trafford witness a lyrical revival from Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli? 

There's a wonderfully executed scene at the start of Irish writer-director Jim Carney's music-infused summer film, Begin Again, in which Mark Ruffalo's whiskey-swigging, down-and-out record company executive Dan produces in his head - while half-drunk in a New York bar - the song being sung in front of him by Keira Knightley's broken-hearted Greta. While Greta strums a guitar hesitantly as her voice quivers in front of a disengaged audience, Dan's mind fast forwards to what can be - he sees the potential and adds to it his years of experience; a drum set, violin and cello magically appear as he transforms what he hears into a potential hit single. And, as we soon find out, a shot at redemption. 

Watching the Indian cricket team in England this summer is a bit like that scene from Begin Again. There's talent alright, heaps of it, but the team is broken, hurting, a little confused. Like the lonely and jilted British songwriter Greta, this team is in need of some fine-tuning to make it into something stronger, something potent, something magical. It needs that extra push. It needs inspiration. It needs to strum the right chords in unison. 

After the lyrical high of Lord's, MS Dhoni's India was not on song at Southampton. It was out of sync, scratchy, and downright awful. They fought hard in the first two Tests, without any question, but they were a tea gripped by naivety at critical stages of the third. James Anderson's pace and accuracy wounded them in the first innings and then India collapsed to Moeen Ali in the second. And before this, of course, they missed crucial opportunities in the field - not least where Alastair Cook was concerned. "Our batsmen played fast bowlers better, but we allowed Moeen to bowl his line and length on a pitch that underwent lots of wear and tear. I felt that we could have been a bit more positive," was Dhoni's assessment after a 266-run shellacking. 

There's positive music to be made at Old Trafford, but India have plenty of questions to answer regarding team composition and aptitude. Will five bowlers be enough? Is Bhuvneshwar Kumar fit enough? Should R Ashwinplay alongside Ravindra Jadeja? Should Shikhar Dhawan get another game? Should Rohit Sharma be retained? Can Varun Aaron offer a necessary shot of pace? Plenty of questions, plenty of speculation. 

There are times when it has seemed that certain members of the team have not understood their role or played their parts. This has meant that the onus of making something happen, forcing the pace and thereby a result, has fallen on a few individuals. The batting is creaking. Dhawan (122 runs), Cheteshwar Pujara (190), Virat Kohli (101) have all disappointed. Rohit came in for Stuart Binny at Southampton and showed again that he is far from ready for the rigours of Test cricket. Bar one counter-attacking innings, Jadeja is far from convincing as an allrounder. 

India need inspiration to make good music. It is about time it came from their two big batsmen. Pujara has not looked poor but his fault lies in losing concentration after bedding himself in. Kohli, for all his shortcomings against the corridor of uncertainty outside off stump, is a batsman from whom sparks can fly at any moment. And with an average of 16.83 in six innings this series, India will be expecting that moment to come some time over the next few days. 

The task that now confronts India is as tough as they have ever faced - and they have had a few tough moments in the past four years. To make matters more complex for Dhoni & Co, they have a resurgent opposition to contend with. Over the next five days, England could either completely knock down India, or we could witness a stirring fightback from a team desperate enough to win, and to shake off a muddled mindset. Watching what a crushing defeat, despair and despondency elicits from India - and what confidence will draw from them - promises to be engaging. 

As for England, they would have arrived in Manchester with a spring in their step - despite the loss of Liam Plunkett and doubts over Stuart Broad's participation - and further domination on their minds. They will hope to channel the lessons re-learned at Southampton - particularly the need for discipline and team spirit - in the fourth Test, with an eye on a series lead. What would India give for a bit of the same? 

From that East Village bar scene in Carney's film, a magical team was launched. India too are in need of some magic. Here's hoping for a comeback, and some beautiful music. Play on.