Cricket
India v England Third Test preview: England up against it in Rajkot
India and England lock horns for the third time with the five-match series deadlocked at 1-1 after the hosts came roaring back into the contest.
We preview all the action from the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium below.
India v England
Michael Atherton’s claim that England should be considered favourites to claim their first series win in India since 2012 following their victory in the opening Test may have been somewhat far-fetched, after the hosts eased to a 106-run win despite missing an array of first team players.
The deficit of the victory may have been past the three-figure mark, but it was another valiant attempt from Ben Stokes’ England, who once again failed to convert promising starts to their innings into match-winning totals. Their final nine wickets for both their innings fell for 137 and 197 runs respectively, showcasing their inability to take advantage of the good foundations laid by their opening pair of Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley.
Jasprit Bumrah was ultimately the difference between the two sides, finishing with match figures of 9-91 following a devastating period of reverse swing bowling in the England first innings. Such was the extent of his impact that he was awarded man of the match over Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored an incredible double century in the first innings, including seven sixes. He is likely to prove dangerous once again from the visitors.
India won in Visakhapatnam but aren’t completely void of problems. Their batting sparsity within their middle order has left some holes that need filling, with Shreyas Iyer left out, KL Rahul injured and Virat Kohli unavailable. They will likely welcome back Ravindra Jadeja after the all-rounder tweaked a muscle while being run out by Ben Stokes in the first Test and his inclusion will certainly contribute to India being the 4/11 favourites to take a 2-1 lead into the fourth match.
England’s struggle in the middle order
England welcome back Mark Wood to their starting XI in place of Shoaib Bashir to inject some pace on what looks like a flatter deck than the other two surfaces. It means they will line up with a slightly more conventional count of two seamers and two frontline spinners, though their issues throughout this series have seldom come from their bowling attack.
It’s the middle order which has been letting the tourists down so far, with talismanic batsmen Joe Root struggling in particular after amassing just 52 runs across his four innings so far. To put that into perspective, he’s got more overs under his belt (64) than runs in the series. Jonny Bairstow found himself in the twenties before being dismissed by Bumrah in the last game, while Ben Foakes has certainly had a better series behind the stumps than he has with the bat. England are 4/1 to win their second game in India for the first time in 12 years.
