It would be easy to forget, in all this talk of ambush marketing and contracts and cricketing boards, that there is actually some cricket being played. India's third Test against England comes up on August 22, and despite a brave show on the final day of the second Test and some good performances in the tour game against Essex, India's problems on the cricket field seem further from a resolution than their problems off it. The Indian batsmen might have saved them the Trent Bridge Test, but only their bowlers can bring them back into the series. Zaheer Khan was the lone light at Lord's, and even he just flickered briefly at Trent Bridge. The spinners, taking solo turns in the two Tests, were toothless, and Harbhajan Singh's seven-for against Essex should not raise any illusions that he will be a wicket-taking force in the Tests to come, especially the third one at Leeds, which will favour the seamers.

Ashish Nehra and Ajit Agarkar have bowled so badly in the two Tests that they should have, ideally, been discarded from the team. But what are the options? Tinu Yohannan is completely out of his depth at this level of the game – he returned figures of 1 for 69 against Essex – and Sanjay Bangar is more a batsman than a bowler. He got 1 for 82 against Essex, but was in the running for a place in the side nevertheless, as his supposed allround abilities might lend balance to the team. But whose place can he take? Wasim Jaffer was a candidate, but that slot already appears to have been filled.

Shiv Sunder Das came back into form against Essex with a determined 250, and that makes him a near-certain inclusion in the team for the third Test. Jaffer has always been iffy on the front foot against the moving ball. Das looked the part when he made his debut for India, possessing both the technique and temperament of an opener, but looked to be unravelling over the last few months. He said in a recent interview to a news agency that he's spent a lot of time in the nets with John Wright, India's coach, and has sorted his technical defects out, specifically his backlift which came from gully and often had him chopping the ball on to his stumps. If the Test at Leeds confirms that claim, it'll be good news for India.

The likely changes then are these: Das for Jaffer, and Yohannan for Agarkar, whose shocking inadequacy with the ball is in no way compensated by his heroics with the bat. Bangar, who made 74 in the second innings against Essex and can be a useful accurate stock bowler, is a dark horse, who can take either of those two places away. While it will be unfair on Das if he loses out to Bangar, the logic for that move – that Bangar's 10 to 15 overs in a day can be more than useful in such a crippled bowling attack – has more meat to it than his prevailing over Yohannan for a specialist bowler's spot. India will then effectively be going in with three specialist bowlers, and bolstering their batting hoping that their batting depth can secure a draw. That will be a negative tactic, and it is unlikely that an otherwise positive captain like Ganguly will opt for it.

Amit Varma is assistant editor of Wisden.com in India.

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