India and England return to the yard eyeing a crucial lead in the Test series

After a brief hiatus of 10 days, two of the Test cricketing juggernauts return to action as India and England clash in the third match of the series. The Test series is leveled at 1-1, with England having won the first Test by 28 runs while India retaliated with a solid counterblast that left England with a bitter taste in their mouth in the second game.

With Virat Kohli out of the entire series and KL Rahul ruled out, the Indian batting order will need the fresh faces to get the job done. The last-minute inclusion of Devdutt Padikkal in place of Rahul has somewhat left the Indian unit with too many questions on the horizon.

England, on the contrary, looks in solid touch despite the defeat. They have played significantly well vis-à-vis their last outing in India. With a victory in the first match of the series, they were soaring in the sky only for Rohit and company to floor them in the second.

This is going to be a crucial contest that would witness the two sides go at each other with their claws and fangs bared, hoping to secure a win that would place them in a decent position in terms of the series’ outcome.

Venue Watch:

A total of two Tests have been played at this venue out of which one has been won batting first. The surface has a reputation of being a flat one with 593 runs being the average score in the first innings with the second innings average being 334. The numbers are on a sharp decline as we head towards the latter half of the game.

Head to Head

Matches played: 133

India – 32

England - 51

Match Details:

Match – India vs England

Venue: Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot

Date: 15th February, 2024

Time: 9:30 AM

Squads:

India:  Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), KS Bharat (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja*, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Akash Deep 

England: Ben Stokes (C), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Shoaib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood.