India eye place in World Test championships final
HIGH on confidence after thrashing England in the second Test in Chennai, the Virat Kohli-led Indian team will look to keep the winning momentum going when they take the field in the pink-ball Test, starting today.
A win will take them one step closer to a spot in the final of the maiden World Test Championship.
India had defeated England by 317 runs in the second Test and now both teams will battle it out in the day-night Test at the newly-built Motera Stadium.
The pink-ball Test has traditionally offered a lot of assistance to the seamers, but this match may be a different ball game as Rohit Sharma on Sunday suggested that critics shouldn’t pull the BCCI up for preparing spin-friendly wickets.
India went in with three spinners in the second Test – Kuldeep Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel – but it is safe to say the side will look at going in with two spinners and Kuldeep may face the axe.
Umesh Yadav passed his fitness Test on Sunday and has been added to the hosts’ squad. The returning pacer may be given a go straight away, along with Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma. But Mohammed Siraj will also look to give Umesh tough competition for a place in the XI.
On the other hand, England have problems of plenty as their rotation policy continues to baffle fans and experts. James Anderson, who was rested for the second Test, is set to play at Motera while Jofra Archer is also most likely to get the green light from the team management. Whether the visitors decide to give Stuart Broad another go in this series, is a big debating point.
Zak Crawley had missed the first two Tests against India after slipping in the dressing room while Jonny Bairstow was rested for the first two Tests. The latter is set to come into the team as Dan Lawrence has no big scores to his name in this series. Whether the visitors give Crawley a chance in place of Dom Sibley or Rory Burns, is left to be seen.
England’s assistant coach Graham Thorpe has already talked about the challenges of playing in a new stadium and he opined that the shiny and coloured seats may make the job of the fielders a bit difficult in the third Test.
Teams have to adjust to the pitch, but both India and England need to acclimatise with the lights and seating at the Motera as well.
The venue can seat up to 110000 people, but due to Covid-19, only 50% crowd would be allowed. But as Jofra Archer said on Monday, even a half-filled Motera will be equivalent to having a full capacity in most of the cricket stadiums.
India needs to win the series by at least a margin of 2-1 to make the finals of the WTC, but if the side loses another game, Kohli and boys are out of the WTC contention. On the other hand, England must win both remaining matches to qualify for the WTC finals. If the series ends in a 1-1 or 2-2 draw, then Australia would make the WTC finals.
Even if England wins the series 2-1, Australia would still make the WTC finals.
SQUAD
India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicketkeeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, Umesh Yadav.
England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. | ANI