Tough batting test awaits in-form India against unsettled England as third Test begins at Lords
With the series nicely poised at 1-1 going into the third Test, the narrative built around both teams has changed significantly following India's 336-run routing of England at Edgbaston
London: The in-form Indian batters will back themselves to succeed on a potentially challenging surface while the bowling attack, which did not inspire confidence in the first game, will pose a tougher test to an unsettled England with the return of Jasprit Bumrah at the Lord’s Test beginning on Thursday.
With the series nicely poised at 1-1 going into the third Test, the narrative built around both teams has changed significantly following India’s 336-run routing of England at Edgbaston.
If it wasn’t for the dropped catches and lower-order collapses at Leeds, India would have been 2-0 up in the five-match series.
Considering the inexperience of the Indian squad under new captain Shubman Gill, the team has not only competed but also won the majority of the sessions over the course of the first two Tests.
England, on the other hand, were expected to steamroll the opposition following the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, but India’s performance thus far has been a testament to their depth and rich talent.
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 the Indian opener will likely still 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 quality of the Indian pace attack after Leeds, but the trio of Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, and Bumrah gives them a potent look to the attack.
With a 10-wicket match haul in the second Test, Akash Deep had a dream debut in England, and considering his penchant to target the stumps all the time, the home side batters will need to be extra careful against the wily operator.
Siraj will take confidence from his match-winning effort at Lord’s in 2021, while Bumrah is always a threat, even on the flattest of tracks.
India played three all-rounders at Edgbaston, including two spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. That combination is likely to continue with Nitish Kumar Reddy being the lone pace-bowling all-rounder.
“The series is stuck at 1-1 at the moment, but the best bowlers in the series have been from India. Bumrah is by far better than anybody else on show, but the way Akash Deep bowled the last Test and Siraj, they were outstanding, and that’s a huge, huge bonus for India to have three seamers, who can take wickets. That is a concern for England at the moment,” former England pacer Darren Gough told PTI.
The England bowling attack will be strengthened with the return of Archer, who replaced Josh Tongue.
On the batting front, the pressure will be on opener Zak Crawley after twin failures at Edgbaston, while more runs are expected from the skipper Ben Stokes, who has looked out of rhythm the entire series.
Crowd turnout has been exceptional in the series thus far and Lord’s will be another sellout, adding to the excitement built by the competitive nature of both teams.
