The high octane Indian tour of England Test series has been notching up the intensity with every match of the bilateral fixture. The tourists registered history when they conquered the Englishmen at the mecca of cricket, Lord’s in the second Test of the five-match series to take a lead of 1-0. Virat Kohli’s men won the game by a margin of 151 runs on the final day, the iconic victory belonged to the bowlers as they managed to wrap up England’s batting line-up within 60 overs. The third Test will be played at Headingley Carnegie in Leeds on August 25, Wednesday at 3:30 PM IST.
There have been numerous positives for the Indian team in the past two Tests of the ongoing series. The consistent opening pair of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, the valuable contributions from Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara and the biggest takeaway so far for the visitors is the contributions from the tail-enders with the bat. Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah contributed 89 with the bat in the second Test, which proved vital for the Indians to set up a competitive target on the board on the final day. While chasing 271 in 60 overs, the hosts crumbled to a mere total of 120 while saving a home Test match and the credit goes to the Indian pacers.
With every passing Test match, casualties are piling up for the English team. The hosts commenced the series without the likes of Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes. In the second Test, Stuart Broad was also left out due to an injury, while there was uncertainty over James Anderson’s inclusion as well. Joe Root is the only man fighting for his team along with the veteran bowler Anderson. Root seems to be in tremendous form as the English skipper smashed two centuries in the first two Test matches which put India on the back foot. The 39-year-old swing bowler continues troubling the Indians in the overcast conditions.
Team News:
India: The in-form Indian team is likely to go unchanged but there might be a chance where Ravichandran Ashwin gets selected ahead of Ravindra Jadeja, as the latter went wicketless in the first two Tests.
England: The hosts will be missing out on the services of Mark Wood as the bowler is ruled out from the Headingley Test due to a shoulder injury.