The joke going around Lord’s last week was that Virat Kohli’s struggles with a bad back were the result of having to carry the Indian batting lineup. After all, their chief problem across the two Tests to date has not been hard to diagnose, with the next highest score after Kohli’s 149 and 51 at Edgbaston an unbeaten 33 from their No 8, Ravi Ashwin, while neither of the tourists’ innings in soggy St John’s Wood matched the 137 peeled off by Chris Woakes.

The opener Murali Vijay is fresh from a Jimmy Anderson-inflicted pair in that innings defeat, both Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul have forgotten that leaving the ball is an option when it is red, not white, while Hardik Pandya sits next best after Kohli’s 240 runs with 90 at 22.5; the green-tinged Trent Bridge pitch will require a screeching handbrake turn to prevent a 3-0 scoreline.

Kohli has maintained throughout this trip that the issues at play are not technical but mental, however. Speaking before the third Test, as well as confirming his return to full fitness, the India captain stressed the need for individuals to focus on the situation in front of them and play for the team’s needs at all times.

“You know when your back is against the wall is the time for you not to think anything else,” said Kohli. “It’s actually a good situation to be in because you literally have no room for thinking about anything else apart from what the team requires at that particular moment from you throughout the course of the Test match.

“The only conversation we’ve had is that the only option is to win this game and nothing else. You need to show that in your body language, in your intent and the way you prepare for the game, the way you go about things. It’s all about you feeling positive first. It’s up to the individuals to stand up and say: ‘I’m going out there to make a difference.’”

Unlike England, India prefer to keep their XI under wraps until the toss but change appears likely, if nothing else for the fact that since Lord’s in 2014 they have made at least one tweak every Test match – a run of 44 fixtures that has added to the image of Kohli as an impatient captain (even if MS Dhoni led the side for the first handful of those).

Ravi Shastri, India’s head coach, has already conceded that picking the left-arm wrist-spin of Kuldeep Yadav was an error at Lord’s. Spinners have averaged 50 in Test matches in Nottingham over the past 10 years – the highest in England – and so it would be quite the thing if India did not bring in the fit-again Jasprit Bumrah.

The 24-year-old seamer, whose elbow-locking action is one of the quirkier ones around, is very much a favourite of Kohli, with the captain referencing his impressive performances in South Africa during a 2-1 defeat in January – he took 14 wickets at 25 – and a desire to “make the batsmen feel uncomfortable”.

The word this week has been of a change behind the stumps too. Dinesh Karthik was India’s top-scorer in a famous 1-0 win here 11 years ago but has been tormented by England’s bowlers, so much so that a debut for Rishabh Pant looks on.

Coming in now is a huge ask for a 20-year-old but with three half-centuries from four first-class games during India’s A tour here last month, Pant has fared better against the Dukes ball than some of his seniors of late.