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

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

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The morning chill was lingering, not exactly willing to make way for the warmth of the day, as Rahul Dravid stood on the ground, his gaze fixed on the Rajkot pitch. So immersed was he in studying the surface that one might easily mistake him for a student of pedology, or perhaps a soil scientist. He would not like to be distracted!!

India will need to be ruthless and tactful in equal measure while dealing with an unpredictable England when the third chapter of a riveting Test series begins in Rajkot today. 

After England shocked India in the series opener at Hyderabad, the hosts came back strong in Vizag to get on level footing, leaving the five-match series perfectly poised. The brilliance of Yashasvi Jaiswal (321 runs) and Jasprit Bumrah (15) allowed India to make a comeback in the series, but concerns remain over a misfiring middle-order, which will now be relying on the young talent to deliver the goods.

Skipper Rohit Sharma's form with the bat before the eight-day break only added to the growing concern surrounding the Indian batting, which will be without K L Rahul in this game and Virat Kohli for the entirety of the series.

Over the last year or so, Rohit's aggressive approach with the bat has not yielded him big scores, and the current situation demands the Indian skipper perhaps contemplate changing gears.

Rahul's unavailability for the third Test has put forth the possibility of Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan making his long awaited debut in the longest format. The domestic run machine could be teaming up with one-test-old Rajat Patidar to occupy two of the most coveted batting spots in the middle order.

India's glaring inexperience in the middle-order would have been well noted by the English camp, whose robust research on opponents and aggressive play has time and again delivered results!!

Wicket keeper KS Bharat's persistent failures with the bat have raised the possibility of India turning to Uttar Pradesh's 23-year-old Dhruv Jurel, who is known for his aggressive batting.

Team News:

India

With KL Rahul out injured, Sarfaraz Khan is in line for his Test debut. India could also ring in a change behind the stumps, giving Dhruv Jurel his first Test cap too.

Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj.

England

As expected, England announced their XI on the eve of the fixture - going with a two-pace, three-spin combination by bringing back Wood for Bashir.

England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson.

Rajkot Pitch Report

With an average of 46.47 in 15 First-Class matches, Jurel has given a fine account of himself. With the pitch here at Rajkot not expected to be a rank turner, a debut here would only help Jurel ease into the world of top flight cricket.

With local hero Cheteshwar Pujara no more in the plans of the selectors, there will be a high anticipation from the local hero Ravindra Jadeja to get back into the ring and deliver for India, whose spinners were outmatched by England in the first two Tests.

Numbers tell only one side of the story and India's think tank will not be overly concerned with how their spinners have averaged collectively (38.39) compared to England's (33.90).

Unlike in the past when spinners would rule the roost and fast bowling reduced to mere formalities, this series has witnessed a stunning turnaround which has, fortunately for India, coincided with Bumrah being at his absolute best.

Bumrah's brilliance in the first two Tests has stood tall and to some extent saved the blushes for the celebrated spinners who have not thrived in the absence of rank turners.

With the pitch at Rajkot being traditionally friendly to the batters, India will have to pick one among chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, with the latter winning the vote purely on his batting credentials.

What to expect: Lot of runs. The last time a Test was played here (in 2018), India had three first-innings centurions and won the game by an innings and 272 runs against West Indies. In the only other Test at the venue, India and England played out a high scoring draw in 2016.

Sitting on 499 wickets, India's premier spinner R Ashwin will be expected to enter the elite 500-club over the course of the game.

For England, it would be all about taking the right steps as they have done so far in India.

Back from their Abu Dhabi base where the players spent time away from the game, the relaxed mood in the camp is easily perceptible.

Tom Hartley's confidence has grown multifold from the time he stepped on the Indian shores. His probing line and lengths have persistently questioned the Indian batters and with the bat, his aggressive approach has matched the team's philosophy.

It remains to be seen if sharing the spin bowling workload is taking more out of Joe Root than it should, but England will have no other option but to lean on the senior most batter for wickets given Jack Leach is ruled out of the series with a knee injury. He will also be expected to get back to his consistent ways with the bat.

Ollie Pope played an innings of a lifetime at Hyderabad to set up England's win, but twin failures in the second Test put focus on him as well as Jonny Bairstow.

On the cusp of his 100th Test, Ben Stokes would like to look back at the fine 128 here he made at the SCA stadium in the drawn Test of the 2016 tour. His leadership has been inspiring thus far in the series, and one can expect more bold calls from him over the course of the next five days.

Did you know:

- Ben Stokes is three wickets away from joining Gary Sobers and Jacques Kallis to complete a double of 6000 runs and 200 wickets in the format.

- R Ashwin is 1 wicket away from becoming only the 2nd Indian player to take 500 in this format.

- If he were to get the cap, only five other India batters will have had a higher first class average on debut than Sarfaraz Khan's 69.85. 

What they said:

"I won't term England as (one of the most difficult teams). They have an aggressive style of play. We need to get used to that and plan accordingly for them. If not for small mistakes here and there in the second innings of the first Test, we would have won it." - Ravindra Jadeja on whether England have been the toughest touring side to India

"I think Bash (Shoaib Bashir) performed incredibly well in his first game for England. He'll just take it in a stride. He's a young lad, he obviously would want to play every game possible, but I've got no doubt that there will be more opportunities for him going forward in the series." - Ben Stokes on leaving out one spinner from the XI for the Test

Thanks for the tag Madhu di. Lets win it Ind team

Thanks for the tag Madhu.

May the best team win.

Cheers..

Batters To Watch(recent stats)

Yashasvi Jaiswal,  IND

6 M • 637 Runs • 57.91 Avg • 63.57 SR

Rohit Sharma,  IND

10 M • 570 Runs • 33.53 Avg • 60.76 SR

Joe Root,  ENG

10 M • 839 Runs • 52.44 Avg • 75.11 SR

Zak Crawley,  ENG

10 M • 806 Runs • 44.78 Avg • 83.26 SR

Bowlers To Watch(recent stats)

Ravichandran Ashwin,  IND

8 M • 42 Wkts • 2.89 Econ • 46.8 SR

Ravindra Jadeja,  IND

7 M • 31 Wkts • 2.73 Econ • 55.19 SR

James Anderson,  ENG

7 M • 20 Wkts • 2.65 Econ • 76 SR

Ollie Robinson,  ENG

5 M • 16 Wkts • 2.87 Econ • 63.62 SR

HEAD TO HEAD - LAST 5 MATCHES

India won by 106 runs, 02-Feb-2024

England won by 28 runs, 25-Jan-2024

England won by 7 wickets, 01-Jul-2022

India won by 157 runs, 02-Sep-2021

England won by an innings and 76 runs, 25-Aug-2021