An in-form India will look to carry the momentum against a faltering England when the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series resumes with the third Test at the Lord’s, which will begin on Thursday, July 10. India lost the series opener in Leeds by five wickets, which sparked a plethora of concerns, but the tourists plugged all holes when they reached Birmingham for the second Test.
A comprehensive show saw them script a record 336-run win-their biggest-ever on overseas soil.
Captain Shubman Gill has led from the front in terms of his batting, clobbering 585 runs in just two matches, comprising three centuries. Of those, 430 runs came in the second Test, where he smashed a record 269 and 161. On the bowling front, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj stepped up after a faulty show from the pacers in Leeds, picking up 16 of the 20 wickets at Edgbaston, with both having a five-wicket haul to their name.
With the caravan now having moved to the capital city of London, India are the side with fewer headaches going into the Lord’s Test, where for the first time in the series, they will aim to take the lead and assert dominance on the famed Bazball.
Jasprit Bumrah returns
Not many were happy with India’s decision to rest Bumrah in the second game after he was the only pacer to stand out in the Leeds Test with a five-wicket haul. But Akash, who replaced Bumrah in the playing XI, vindicated the team management’s call, as he finished with a record 10-wicket haul.
Hence, despite Gill’s confirmation of Bumrah’s return for the Lord’s Test, it is unlikely that he would swap Akash for Bumrah. Neither would be for Siraj, implying that Prasidh Krishna would make way for the 31-year-old. The Karnataka pacer has managed just six wickets in four innings at 55.16.
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Overseas players often raise their game at Lord’s, and Bumrah is unlikely to be an exception as the 31-year-old fast bowler bids to gain a coveted place on the dressing room honours board for the first time in his career. His only ever appearance at the Home of Cricket was in 2021, when he returned with three wickets on his second tour of England and stitched an unbeaten 89-run stand for the final wicket with Mohammed Shami.
The other bowling change India could make is resting Washington Sundar, given that the green-top Lord’s track would be more suited for pacers. With the track lively to have pace and carry, head coach Gautam Gambhir could try with left-armer Arshdeep Singh or make the much-anticipated move of bringing Kuldeep Yadav to the XI.
At Lord’s, Kuldeep made his only appearance in a Test match in England, having been picked in the second game of the 2018 series. Kuldeep went wicketless in nine overs for 44 runs. In hindsight, the then-head coach, Ravi Shastri, admitted it was a mistake not to have gone for an extra seamer on a green top.
Hence, while an extra seamer will be the likely choice, according to Gambhir’s template, India might pick fast-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur to maintain the balance in the squad.
Karun Nair’s ‘one more chance’ over?
Three years after his viral social media post, Nair got “one more chance” as he returned to the Indian line-up after a gap of eight years. But the veteran batter has had a quiet show thus far in England. In four innings thus far, he scored 77 runs, including a duck in the first innings in Leeds. Although, in both matches, he played different roles. In the opener, he batted at No. 5, while in the second game, he was promoted to the No. 3 spot, where he looked a tad more confident.
India are unlikely to run out of patience with Nair and hence will continue to back the senior batter, but the Lord’s Test could be the last chance for him to repay the faith, amid Sai Sudharsan waiting for his next chance.
India’s likely XI for 3rd England Test: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah