Team India have been making it a habit to bounce back after losing the first match of the series and we once again witnessed the trend in this series. Virat Kohli and Co. will now lock horns with the Englishmen in the third test of the series. The D/N encounter is scheduled to take place at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, starting this Wednesday.
The series stands at one apiece currently and this match could be a vital one in deciding the finalists of the ICC Test World Championship. The visitors are in a position where they need to win both the remaining matches in the series. While the Indians will have to win one of the remaining matches and can afford to draw one.
The pink ball is expected to assist the pacers and for that reason, we could see a full-strength pace unit featuring in both sides. The last two matches saw completely contrasting results as the first match saw the visitors dominate the Indians and went on to win the match by 227 runs. The second clash though was well in favor of the Men in Blue, who dictated the proceedings from the very first ball and ended up on the winning side by 317 runs.
The encounter apart from being a crucial one in deciding the finalists, match is also expected to witness several records to be shattered especially by the bowlers as the likes of Ashwin and Anderson are on the verge of creating history. Will we witness an epic pink-ball encounter?
England have played 3 D/N matches and managed to win one. While the hosts have played 2 matches so far and have a 50% win percentage. Can the Indians get closer to the finalists' spot? Or will Joe Root and Co. shatter their hopes?
Match Toss Time: 14:00 Local (08:30 GMT)
Match Start Time: 14:30 Local (09:00 GMT)
Match Venue: Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad
Weather Report
We are expected to have 5 days of intriguing cricket action as the conditions seem to be top-notch for the game of Cricket. No chances of rain whatsoever and the temperature is expected to be hovering in the 28-23 degree Celsius and the humidity too is forecasted to be on the lower side- around 28 percent at peak.
Pitch
This will be the first international match played at the Motera Stadium after the renovation. The last match played at this venue was an ODI between India and Sri Lanka back in 2014. The pitch is reported to be in the favor of the pacers and the spinners are expected to have a say in the last two days of the encounter. The pacers are able to generate more swing with the pink ball and this could be an absolute feast for the bowlers. The team winning the toss should be looking to bat first.
Team News
Team India have not reported any injuries and not many changes are expected from them. The only certainty seems to be that of that replacement of Kuldeep Yadav with Umesh Yadav. The 33-year old has an excellent record in the D/N test, picking up 11 wickets in just 2 matches. The rest of the team looks to be unchanged from the previous test.
England on the other side will be relieved with the return of Zak Crawley, who was ruled out of the first two tests owing to a wrist injury. He is expected to open the innings along with Dominic Sibley. The return of Jonny Bairstow means that the struggling Daniel Lawrence will have to make way. The rotation policy followed by England would see Chris Woakes in place of Moeen Ali and James Anderson and Jofra Archer are likely to replace Stuart Board and Olly Stone.
Probable Playing Xl
India (IND): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma
England (ENG): Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root (C), Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes (wk), Ben Stokes, Olly Stone/Dom Bess, Jack Leach, Jofra Archer, James Anderson
IND vs ENG Fantasy Team
Ben Foakes/ Jonny Bairstow, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Dominic Sibley, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Jofra Archer, Jack Leach
Captain Picks: Rohit Sharma (IND), Dominic Sibley (ENG)
Vice-captain Picks: Joe Root (ENG), Virat Kohli (IND)
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