Team India registered an emphatic 336-run win over England in the second Test of the five-match series in Birmingham. The series is now levelled 1-1 as both the teams are now desperate to take a lead. The win in the second Test was a special one as it was India's first triumph at the Edbgaston in 58 years and it came under the captaincy of young Shubman Gill. The third Test will kick-start from Thursday, July 10, and all eyes are on India's Playing XI for the match. England announce their lineup on Wednesday, which marked pacer Jofra Archer's return to Test cricket after 4 years.
In the second Test, India missed the services of their star pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested to manage his workload. However, his absence did not affect the bowling attack as pacers Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj took the charge and brilliantly dominated the game against England's batting lineup.
During the post-match press conference, skipper Shubman Gill also mentioned that Bumrah will be playing the third Test but it is not clear which player will be replaced.
The mountains of runs scored by Gill and Co. have forced Ben Stokes to depart from their original template: prepare flat tracks and bat the opposition out of the game.
The roaring success of the Indian batters on flat tracks has proved counter productive for the hosts who are now expected to dish out a surface offering a fair amount of seam movement. Add to that a rather unique challenge of a slope -- that runs up and down -- at the iconic Lord's.
The return of Bumrah and Jofra Archer, who will play his first Test for England in four years, will only make the batters' task tougher.
The tourists have little to worry about in the batting department barring the form of Karun Nair, who has looked a tad uncomfortable against the ball that jumps from length. Trust England to pepper Yashasvi Jaiswal with short stuff into the body but like he often does, the Indian opener will find a way to score runs.
The only expected change in India's playing eleven will be Bumrah coming in place of Prasidh Krishna. Serious question marks were raised over the efficacy of the Indian pacers after Leeds but the trio of Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj and Bumrah gives a potent look to the attack.
India's Predicted XI in 3rd Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj.
(With PTI Inputs)