India vs. England 2021 : THE PACE ATTACK || 3rd Test
India vs. England 2021
3rd Test – Wed, 24th February
England Like the Pink Ball:
England is not in too nasty a place either when you pay attention to Ben Stokes and Joe Root’s likes in the pre-match hysteria. They are enthusiastic at the potential of a day-night Test, a pink ball, plundering on India fears after being wrecked for 36 under lights in Australia, and their holding at the level set with two to play.
Time will tell whether they are grasping at hays. But what does appear clear is that they will go with speedsters instead of spin. Jimmy Anderson will play. Who unites with him? Stuart Broad? Chris Woakes? Jofra Archer, who has had a niggling elbow?
England may well prefer to go with all of them.
Zak Crawley is also fit to come back, and he could be in a neat battle with Jonny Bairstow for the seat. Otherwise, both could play with England bending on Ben Stokes for a significant impact and Root taking some burden off Jack Leach.
Possible playing XI: Dominic Sibley, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Jofra Archer, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes (WK), Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Joe Root (C), Ben Stokes, and James Anderson.
Indians Rely on Pacers:
India is delighted after thrashing England in the second game. They would be smart not to get taken away. Had they missed the toss and had to bat second on a wicket that was doing scraps, they could have discovered themselves 2-0 down.
The wise response to that 317-run victory is perhaps to ponder why India believed the need to take such a risk on a fifty-fifty call? After a loss in the first Test, perhaps they felt acutely vulnerable. Well, not any longer.
Despite such a laidback win, they are expected to make changes. Jasprit Bumrah is anticipated to come back to the squad after resting out the second Test. That implies that Kuldeep Yadav could miss out. Umesh Yadav may also come straight away into the playing XI after passing a fitness exam as India put in pace possibilities.
Possible playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Ravichandran Ashwin, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ishant Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah.
The venue, Pitch Report, and Toss Prediction:
The third Test match between India and England will be played at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad from 24th February Wednesday.
With this being the first-ever game at the Sardar Patel Stadium, there is a perception of uncertainty around the wicket. Nevertheless, by its looks, a cutthroat pitch with a hint of green awaits the two teams. The speedsters should get the pink ball to move across under the lights. The spin bowlers should also have a say in this match. Batting first will be the perfect option as the wicket could get problematic to bat on by the last innings.
Don’t Underrate England:
India is at the offs of 1.54, England is at 3.65, whereas the draw is 7.75. Not astonishingly, the toss is vital. If England wins the toss and bat first (certainly Root wouldn’t be silly enough to bowl?), then they are a bet at better odds.
The pink ball will help them lessen the gap (there is a bit of proof that it helps the speedsters more), and in match one on a better pitch, they proved they had the nerve to bed in for the kind of the first-innings total that is a dynamics changer.
