🏏 India vs England, 3rd Test-- SCA Stadium, Rajkot 🏏 - Page 2

India vs England Weather Forecast:

Clear skies will greet both sides on Thursday, with temperatures expected to range between 16 and 32 degrees Celsius. There is no chance of rain predicted during the course of the five days.

Venue Guide

Stadium: Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium

City: Rajkot

Capacity: 28,000

Hosts to: Saurashtra

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All the best to our boys 👊🏻

Should the wicket indeed be relatively flat like early reports have suggested, it'll perhaps be another factor that plays into England's favour as well. England opted to bring in the extra pace of Mark Wood for this game at the expense of the third spinner Bashir suggesting their need for an enforcer when the pitch doesn't offer much for the bowlers. Eventually, the game might come down to the difference in the batting approach of the two sides. England have shown us they can be fearless and they will score quickly. The onus is now in India's young batters to overcome the inevitable air of timidness that surrounds a big stage like this.

"If England win the toss, the chances of each team winning about 50/50. If India win the toss, it would probably give them an 80/20 advantage. The draw would normally be a significant possibility but England will be doing all they can to avoid that possibility."

The broadcast has begun. Anil Kumble has handed Sarfaraz Khan his cap. His parents are emotional on the sidelines. A couple minutes later, Dhruv Jurel is also shown getting his cap from Dinesh Karthik. It's a bright morning in Rajkot, the weather is expected to be on the cooler side, as written in the preview. Toss coming up soon.

Pitch report: Nick Knight says it looks a fantastic surface. It is two toned. The guts of the surface still has cracks but it's smaller. He reckons England going with two seamers is right. Deep Dasgupta says there's a bit of rough but there won't be much for the spinners in the first two days. Says there is a bit of moisture on the good length for a spinner. Says it's a good batting pitch and the game might go on for 4-5 days. The best time to bat might be days 2 and 3.

India have won the toss and have opted to bat

Rohit Sharma: We're going to bat first. We've made some changes, made four changes. Some injuries and some guys coming back from the last game. Two debutants. Siraj and Jadeja are back. Axar Patel and Mukesh Kumar miss out. Looks a good pitch, better than the last two we've played on. Rajkot is known to be a good pitch but it'll deteriorate as it goes. The guys have stood up and done the job for the team when it was needed.

Ben Stokes: We would've batted first too. Time flies when you're having fun. Fair reflection of both teams, we've been very happy with the way we've gone about things in the first two Tests. We had a nice break, gave everyone a chance to relax. There was no cricket, we got the families out, it was great.