With the series level at 1-1, India & England will now move to Rajkot to compete in the third match of the 5 match test series. The third Test commences on Thursday, February 15, at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot. The last time England visited Rajkot for a Test, in 2016, the match was ended-up with a draw against the mighty India national cricket team.
India, who already missed the services of Virat Kohli in the first two matches will now skip the whole series due to ‘personal reasons’, along with him the experienced duo of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja being ruled out of the second Test due to injuries. Devdutt Padikkal has been selected for the replacement of KL Rahul as he still unfit to join the camp further. Recently, The left-hander has been in sparkling form this season. After his 193 against Punjab in the opening Ranji game, he scored 103 against Goa. Talking about Shreyas Iyer selectors are still not sure about his batting ability in test cricket. He hasn’t scored a single fifty in past 13 innings. There is a too much debate going on for India’s middle order batsman who can deliver them at a crucial phase of the match.
Sarfaraz Khan is in line to make his debut, while there are reports of Dhruv Jurel coming in place of the under- performer KS Bharat.
The bowling unit has been led by Jasprit Bumrah, who has shown his class on pitches that have not been very conducive to the pacers. He is the leading wicket-taker in the series with 15 wickets from two games at an average of 10.67. Ravichandran Ashwin has done reasonably well, picking up nine wickets in two games at 36.33.
England spinner Jack Leach has been ruled out of the remainder of the Test tour with a knee problem. The visiting side, which has picked only one specialist fast bowler for each of the first two Tests, will field a two-man pace attack in Rajkot, with Mark Wood replacing Bashir
In the previous encounter between these two side cricketing world witness a young Yashasvi Jaiswal who was brilliant with his bat. He scored 209 runs off just 290 deliveries with a strike rate of 72. Shubham Gill scored 104 runs. Bumrah took 6 wickets in his first and 3 his second. He was being awarded by a player of the match for his brilliance with the ball. INDIA won the match by 106 runs.
India vs England Head-To-Head Stats
India and England have faced each other in 133 Test matches. In the head-to-head Test record between IND and ENG, England leads with 51 wins, while India has won 32 games. There have been 50 matches that ended in a draw. Out of the 56 Test matches played in India, the hosts have won 23 times, while England has won 15. The remaining 28 matches concluded in a draw.
Saurashtra Stadium Pitch Report
It is highly likely that the pitch at Saurashtra Cricket Stadium will be slow and could potentially favour spinners, possibly even transforming into a rank turner. In terms of previous Test matches played at this ground, there have been two matches, with one resulting in a draw and the other won by India.
Weather Report
The weather forecast for the entire duration of the IND vs ENG 3rd Test, spanning from Thursday to Monday, predicts warm and pleasant weather conditions throughout the playing days. There is no sign of rainfall, which means there is no need to worry about any weather-related disruptions during the 3rd Test match between India and England.
Probable Playing XI
India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan, Rajat Patidar, KS Bharat (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, James Anderson, Mark Wood
Dream11 Prediction Picks
Wicketkeepers: Jonny Bairstow
Batters: Rohit Sharma, Ben Stokes, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Yashasvi Jaiswal
All-rounders: Ravichandran Ashwin, Joe Root, Axar Patel
Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Tom Hartley
Prediction
Given how England have approached the Test Series so far, it won’t be a surprise if England go for all-out attack approach even on a dead surface. England are favorites to win the Test match as the inclusion of the lethal speedster Mark Wood can prove to be the ‘X’ factor as his raw pace can dismantle India’s fragile batting line up.