Birmingham: England vs India Test goes ahead despite riots

Undaunted by the riots that broke out in Birmingham on Monday night, England take on India in the third Test at Edgbaston on Wednesday with rival captains Andrew Strauss and Mahendra Singh Dhoni supported the decision to go ahead with the game.I think this is an opportunity for cricket to maybe put a feel-good factor back into the newspapers and show that not everythings bad out there at the moment, Strauss said. Lets divorce the cricket match from whats going on out in the country, which is clearly not our proudest hour.When asked if India would play, Dhoni replied: Of course.He added: I think the best thing to do as cricketers is to prepare well for the game. For us its important to be 100 percent ready, whatever happens.England leads the four-match series 2-0 and will unseat India as the worlds No. 1 side if it wins the third test.Were not approaching this test any differently, Strauss said. That No. 1 ranking comes as a consequence of playing good cricket and so all weve got to focus on is trying to play good cricket.England will again be without Chris Tremlett with a back injury, so Tim Bresnan will keep his place after career best figures of 5-48 at Trent Bridge, while Ravi Bopara will replace injured batsman Jonathan Trott.I think were all delighted that Ravis got a chance again, hes been knocking on the door for quite some time, Strauss said.Strauss confirmed Ian Bell would bat at number three, with Eoin Morgan moving up to five and Bopara six.Indias luck with injuries shows no sign of turning. Dhonis side has so far lost Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh, although it is boosted by the return of batsman Virender Sehwag.Sehwag flew into England last week after recovering from a shoulder injury and although he has also had a hearing problem, it will not prevent him playing.If he nicks it and doesnt walk that might be why Dhoni joked. I cant see any reason why he shouldnt play. Hes a very dynamic player. He bats with instinct and we all know the effect and aggressive opener can have on the opposition bowling attack so I think hes a very good player to have.Indias main concern in heavy defeats at Lords and Trent Bridge has been its failure to finish off Englands lower order.