While India will be expecting their top-order batsmen to click on a more difficult pitch in the third Test against England beginning at Lord’s on Thursday, Indian bowlers led by frontline pacer Jasprit Bumrah will be going all out to repeat their performance against English batsmen in the previous Test at Edgbaston which India had won by 336 runs. With the series level at 1-1, the upcoming Test match is expected to witness a close contest.
Even in the face of the inexperience of the Indian squad under Shubman Gill, India put up an impressive performance to dominate England in the last Test match. Many were expecting England to subdue India in the wake of the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, but the team proved their detractors wrong. The runs piled by Gill, Rishabh Pant and others in the first two matches have forced Ben Stokes to alter England’s strategy of preparing flat tracks and batting India out of the game. The hosts are now expected to have a pitch that helps seamers in terms of bounce and movement off the surface.
The return of Bumrah and Jofra Archer, who will be playing his first Test for England after four years, will only make things more difficult for batsmen. The only change India is likely to make in their Playing 11 is Bumrah replacing a rather lacklustre Prasidh Krishna. The troika of Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj and Bumrah will give an edge to India’s bowling attack at Lord’s. While Akash Deep will be all charged up after his 10-wicket match-haul in the second Test, Siraj will be looking to better his performance at Birmingham, where he scalped seven wickets. Bumrah, on the other hand, can be lethal even on the flattest of tracks.
While India had played three all-rounders at Edgbaston, including spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, this combination is not likely to be altered with Nitish Reddy being the only fast-bowling all-rounder who is more known for his batting.
“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, but the way Akash Deep bowled in 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,” said former England pacer Darren Gough.
While the England bowling attack will be bolstered by Archer’s comeback, right-arm pacer Gus Atkinson’s return to the squad is also expected to make a difference. With Indian batsmen giving England bowlers a run for their money in the first two Tests, Josh Tongue has been replaced with Archer. While England opener Zak Crawley will clearly be under pressure after failing to be among the runs, captain Ben Stokes will have to get his act together, both with the bat and ball.
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