New Delhi: Stung by their second-heaviest defeat to India in terms of runs, England are expected to prepare a livelier pitch that offers assistance to seamers for the third Test at Lord’s, as the return of Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer adds more spice to contest that hangs in the balance after two matches.
England had prepared flat tracks at Headingley and Edgbaston with the aim of batting India out of the game.
While that ploy worked in the opening game, it came back to haunt them in the second with Shubman Gill scoring a double century and a century in two innings.
Gill’s hammering of the English bowlers sparked comments on the wicket with England skipper Ben Stokes also commenting about the sub-continental type pitch.
Now after a 336-run humiliation, England are keen for course correction through a greener surface that would aim swing bowling on a ground that has unique slope that runs up and down.
England would hope Archer would hit the ground running in his first Test in four years as his express pace could trouble the Indians batters who have looked comfortable in the two games.
The hosts would be tempted to include Gus Atkinson too, in which case Brydon Carse and Josh Tongue would be the seamers making way.
Bumrah would also be in the playing XI in place of Prasidh Krishna after resting his suspect back, to bolster Mohammed SIraj and the 10-wicket hero of Edgbaston Akash Deep.
It is the English batters who would have to find a way to tackle India’s potent seam bowling trio as their aggressive ‘Bazball’ batting crumbled when put under pressure in the second game.
Opener Zak Crawley is under the lens while England would expect more from their star batter Joe Root and skipper Ben Stokes, who has been far more sharp while bowling than with his bat.
The Squads:
India: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vc & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
England: Ben Stokes (captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
Match begins at 3:30pm IST
Live broadcast on Sony Sports Network
Streaming on the JioHotstar app and website