England Vs India, Match Preview
The last two weeks contained some riveting Test Cricket. The Lords Test is one of the greatest comebacks wins in Test Cricket, while the West Indies held on for a nerve-racking one-wicket win against a Pakistan bowling attack that didn’t make games easy. The action is not over in a final day shootout, with the West Indies chasing a stiff target against Pakistan. The day promises to be an interesting one, and the Test Cricket action doesn’t end there. Following the West, Indies-Pakistan Test is the England-India Test at Leeds.
The Leeds stadium produces some thrillers, with Ben Stokes’s brilliance in the recent Ashes a clear example of the action on offer. The Indian team has come into this series hungry and are in with a chance to win two Tests in an England series for the first time since 1986. They’ve been aggressive, dominant, and are making a lot of noise as one of the best teams in the World. With Pujara and Rahane returning to form, the batting line-up looks stronger, and the bowling has been outstanding.
For England, the series has been a tough one. The batting has only been Joe Root, and the selectors are showing signs of desperation. For the Lord’s Test, they bought in Moeen Ali, and now they will be bringing in Dawid Malan with the top-order struggling. England is desperate for someone to support the captain, and they have the potential to do so. With the likes of Butler, Bairstow, and Ali, the batting has a fair amount of experience.
England Vs India, Team News
Mark Wood has been ruled out of the third Test, and a debut could be in line for Saqib Mahmood. If England wants to go with a bowler who has experience in Test Cricket, they could look at Craig Overton. However, he could get the nod over Overton by Mahmood’s recent form in white-ball Cricket. Dawid Malan is another inclusion and will be playing in place of Dom Sibley.
The current template for India has been very effective, but they may find it tough to keep Ashwin out of the eleven as the series goes on. In two Tests, Ravindra Jadeja hasn’t bowled much and has gone wicketless. However, his batting down the order has been excellent, and his purpose has been more or less served. Like the previous Test, India will have a tough call to make regarding the inclusion of Ashwin. Shardul Thakur has recovered from his injury and may have a chance of coming in for Ishant Sharma despite Sharma bowling well at Lords. Another possible inclusion could be Hanuma Vihari’s. With Vihari bowling off-spin, he could strengthen the batting while also providing an occasional spin option.
England Vs India, Predicted XIs
India (probable): 1 KL Rahul, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Mohammed Shami, 9 Shardul Thakur /Ishant Sharma, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj
England (probable): 1 Rory Burns, 2 Haseeb Hameed, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Joe Root (capt), 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Ollie Robinson, 10 Craig Overton/Saqib Mahmood, 11 James Anderson
England Vs India, Players to Watch out for
Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has been aggressive with his bat and his celebration but hasn’t made a statement with the bat yet. His bat has been rather quiet for a while, and the star batter will be eager to make some noise in the next Test. With Rahane and Pujara back in form, Virat Kohli will want to perform excellently to keep up with his middle-order colleagues.
Joe Root
The England batting line-up has been all about Joe Root. He hit two centuries in two Tests, and his only average score came up in the final innings at Lords. He has been on a different dimension in 2021 and is truly at his peak. Although Root could support the other batters, he will still be pleased with how his batting has been and will hope to continue his rich run of form.
England Vs India, Pitch Report
While most surfaces in England are swing-friendly, the Leeds surface seems to suggest otherwise. The surface doesn’t have as much grass and could be slower than the first two surfaces. There will be significant cloud cover across the Test but no rainfall.
