India vs England, 3rd Test Match Preview

Cricket enthusiasts have witnessed some riveting action in the ongoing five-match Test series between India (IND) and England (ENG). With the series being intriguingly poised at 1-1, the third Test commences on Thursday, February 15, at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.

The next chapter in the India-England rivalry promises to be an enticing affair as both teams would be desperate to take the all-important lead in the series. Ben Stokes and Co. drew first blood with their memorable outing in the first Test in Hyderabad. They overturned a 190-run first-innings deficit and pulled off a thrilling 28-run win.

India, who were already missing the services of Virat Kohli, who has opted to skip the series due to 'personal reasons', saw the experienced duo of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja being ruled out of the second Test due to injuries. With their backs against the wall, India managed to pull off a 106-run win in Vizag on the back of excellent performances from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Jasprit Bumrah.

Also Check: Batting and Bowling Stats in IND vs ENG 2024

KL Rahul is yet to recover from his right quadriceps injury but Jadeja has confirmed his availability for the third Test. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer has been left out of the squad after failing to come up with the goods in the first two Tests. Sarfaraz Khan is in line to make his debut, while there are reports of Dhruv Jurel coming in place of the under-firing KS Bharat.

Therefore, India's batting unit will carry an inexperienced look and the onus will be on skipper Rohit Sharma to come up with the goods. However, he hasn't been in great nick in red-ball cricket as of late. He has scores of 24, 39, 14, and 13 from the four innings he has played so far in the series. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored his maiden double-century in the second Test, while Shubman Gill returned to form with a crucial fourth-innings century. The two youngsters will have to replicate their heroics and lead the troops with the bat.

The bowling unit has been led by Jasprit Bumrah, who has shown his class on pitches that have not been very conducive to the pacers. He is the leading wicket-taker in the series with 15 scalps from two games at an average of 10.67. Ravichandran Ashwin has done reasonably well, picking up nine wickets in two games at 36.33, however, he hasn't looked close to his best. The legendary off-spinner finished on 499 Test wickets after the last encounter and would be eager to get into the prestigious 500 club as soon as possible.

England didn't hit the ground running in the first Test but Ollie Pope's epic 196 off 278 balls in the second innings gave them a lot of belief. Opener Zak Crawley scored half-centuries in both innings of the second Test and would be high on confidence. Fellow opener Ben Duckett has also looked fluent during his knocks but hasn't been able to register a big score as yet.

The tourists will be concerned with the form of their premier batter Joe Root, who has registered scores of 29, 2, 5, and 16 so far. Stokes has played a couple of good knocks, while Jonny Bairstow has failed to convert his starts.

On the bowling front, Tom Hartley had a tough initiation to international cricket as Yashasvi Jaiswal took him to the cleaners in the first innings of the Hyderabad Test. However, the left-arm spinner has bounced back since then and is second on the list of highest wicket-takers in 14 wickets from two games at 24.57. Also, James Anderson, who was left out of the playing XI for the first Test, showed his class in Vizag by picking five wickets.

Rajkot Stadium Pitch Report

The Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium generally provides fantastic batting surfaces, which stay true at least for the first two days before showing signs of wear and tear. The spinners are expected to come into the game in the last couple of days. India won the last Test match that was hosted at this venue with absolute ease, beating the West Indies by an innings and 272 runs on the third day in 2018. Winning the toss and batting first would be the ideal choice as the conditions are well-suited for batting in the first couple of days.

Also Read: IND vs ENG Test Stadium Records and Stats at Rajkot Stadium

IND vs ENG Probable Playing XI

India: 

India will have to bank on a very inexperienced batting line-up, with Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel being in contention for their international debuts. After Rohit, who has played 56 Test matches, Shubman is the most experienced frontline batter in the squad with with 22 caps in the longest format of the game. In the absence of experienced players, the youngsters will have to step up against a determined English side.

Predicted XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

England

England named their playing XI one day prior to the start of the Test match, which has been a routine for them so far in the series. The visitors will be going in with two pacers in their playing XI for the first time in this series as Mark Wood is set to join forces with Anderson. The former replaces off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, who made his debut in the second Test and finished with four wickets in the match. Joe Root has been among the wickets and that must have given England the confidence to replace a spinner with a quick bowler.

Predicted XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson

Also Read: Ben Stokes reveals reason behind Mark Wood's Rajkot recall

IND vs ENG Tests Head-to-Head Records: