4th India-England Test begins today

LONDON: Fourth Test between England and India will begin here today at the Oval cricket ground. Indian players have failed badly on the English wickets where Strauss men crushed all hopes of batting greats.

India, who came into this series as the world's top-ranked Test team, are 3-0 down in a four-match contest after a trio of increasingly large defeats, most recently last week's mammoth innings and 242 run reverse at Edgbaston that saw England replace them at number one in the ICC's Test Championship table.

Despite the adverse situation that the team is in, MS Dhoni tried to maintain remarkable equanimity. The prospect of a washout failed to test his sense of humour and humility.

"We don't need a wake-up call, because we're not sleeping," the India skipper quipped when asked if the England series was a wake-up call for his side. The humility was seen in another remark. "I'm not into blame game. The entire team has failed, not individuals."