The first two Test matches between India and England have been full of thrill and excitement and have been a perfect exhibition of Test cricket. While England stunned India by 28 runs in the opening Test, the hosts roared back with a 106-run win in the second.
In the absence of senior players, the young Indian guns were able to grab their opportunities with both hands. Yashasvi Jaiswal was outstanding as he scored a brilliant knock of 209 runs to help the home team get close to the 400-run mark.
Furthermore, Jasprit Bumrah bagged fine figures of 9-91 in the second Test, including a six-wicket haul in the first innings as he returned with 6-45 on a flat pitch. The gun fast bowler was adjudged as Player of the Match for his fine performance.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul has been ruled out of the Rajkot Test and Devdutt Padikkal has been named as a replacement. India’s star batter Virat Kohli will continue to miss the action due to personal reasons.
On the other hand, Ben Stokes will play his 100th Test match and the England captain will look to make it memorable. But, England’s most experienced spinner Jack Leach has been ruled out with a knee injury.
However, the young spin brigade has stood tall and has exceeded the expectations in the first two Test matches. Once again, the trio of Shoaib Bashir, Rehan Ahmed, and Tom Hartley will hold the key for Three Lions.
Match Prediction: India will enter the contest as favorites against England.
India’s squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep, Devdutt Padikkal.
England Squad: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes(w), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, Daniel Lawrence, Gus Atkinson
