England and India have now reached Headingley, the northernmost Test venue in the United Kingdom. Having already taken a 1-0 lead in the series, India are oozing with confidence, while the eight-day gap between the second and the third Tests has allowed England do some self-introspection after the Lord’s debacle.
And under these circumstances, the Leeds Test will go underway from Wednesday, 25 August.
The concerns in the batting department remain for England, but their primary challenge this time around will be to recover mentally from the Lord’s defeat. The week-and-a-half-long gap must have allowed them to switch off, just like the month-long gap after the World Test Championship final had helped the Indian team rejuvenate.
The inclusion of Dawid Malan in the Test squad for the first time in three years will provide a new dimension to their struggling top-order. Dom Sibley has been dropped, which means Rory Burns will open the innings with Haseeb Hameed, followed by Malan at No. 3.
The second innings at Lord’s had provided the template for England to score against this fierce Indian bowling attack. The batters around skipper Root need to chip in with some contributions.
Among bowlers, Saqib Mahmood is all set to make his Test debut in place of injured Mark Wood. Also, off-colour Sam Curran might lose his place to Craig Overton.
For India, things are less complicated. Thankfully, there is no injury concern in the squad – in fact, Shardul Thakur is now fit to play. And much to the relief of the team management, the out-of-form Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scored some (but not many) important runs at Lord’s.
Though Virat Kohli is still searching for a big score, the performances of openers Rohit Sharma and K.L. Rahul have been a great plus in the batting department.
Down the order, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja have done a decent job, which has allowed the think-tank to play four fast bowlers under these seam-friendly conditions. And the pacers paid back by taking all 40 English wickets so far in the series.
The conditions at Headingley will be similar to Lord’s, which will unfortunately keep R. Ashwin out of the XI yet again. Despite Thakur’s fitness, it is unlikely that Kohli will make any changes in the pace attack which won India the game on day five at Lord's.
India and England have so far played six Tests at Headingley, and England hold a slender 3-2 edge with one match (1979) ending in a draw. However, the visitors had won their last two Tests here in 1986 and 2002.
Head to head
Of the 128 Test matches between these two team, India have won 30, drawn 49 and lost 48.
– Rohit and Rahul are the two in-form batters for India. Both of them are expected to fetch decent points on that batsman-friendly Headingley surface.
– James Anderson’s ego was hurt at Lord’s. He will do his bit to get into the wickets in this third Test. So, pick him in your fantasy teams despite his failure in the last Test.
– Root hit form at Trent Bridge and Lord’s, and on the batting-friendly surface in his hometown, he is expected to lead the England batting line-up yet again. He is your ideal pick for the captain’s slot.
Likely XIs
England: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Saqib Mahmood, James Anderson
India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Prediction
India to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series following this Test match.