Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel likely to make debut; England bring in Mark Wood
Rajkot: India will need to be ruthless and tactful in equal measure while dealing with an unpredictable England when the third chapter of a riveting Test series begins here on Thursday.
After England shocked India in the series opener at Hyderabad, the hosts came back strong in Vizag to get on level footing, leaving the five-match series perfectly poised.
Skipper Rohit Sharma’s form with the bat before the eight-day break only added to the growing concern surrounding the Indian batting, which will be without KL Rahul in this game and Virat Kohli for the entirety of the series.
Over the last one year or so, Rohit’s aggressive approach with the bat has not yielded him big scores and the current situation demands the Indian skipper to perhaps contemplate changing gears.
Rahul’s unavailability for the third Test has put forth the possibility of Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan getting his long awaited debut in the longest format. The domestic run machine could be teaming up with one-Test old Rajat Patidar to occupy two of the most coveted batting spots in the middle order.
Wicketkeeper KS Bharat’s persistent failures with the bat has raised the possibility of India turning to Uttar Pradesh’s 23-year-old Dhruv Jurel, who is known for his aggressive batting.
With an average of 46.47 in 15 First-Class matches, Jurel has given a fine account of himself. With local hero Cheteshwar Pujara no more in the plans of the selectors, there will be a high anticipation from the local hero Ravindra Jadeja to get back into the ring and deliver for India, whose spinners were outmatched by England in the first two Tests.
Bumrah’s brilliance in the first two Tests has stood tall and to some extent saved the blushes for the celebrated spinners who have not thrived in the absence of rank turners.
With the pitch at Rajkot being traditionally friendly to the batters, India will have to pick one among chinaman Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, with the latter winning the vote purely on his batting credentials.
Sitting on 499 wickets, India’s premier spinner R Ashwin will be expected to enter the elite 500-club over the course of the game.
England too are expecting the pitch to be batting friendly at least in the initial phase of the game, prompting one change to their playing eleven. They have brought in a second pacer in Mark Wood in place of spinner Shoaib Bashir.
Match starts @9.30 am.
On the cusp of his 100th Test, Ben Stokes would like to look back at the fine 128 here he made at the SCA stadium in the drawn Test of the 2016 tour. His leadership has been inspiring thus far in the series and one can expect more bold calls from him over the course of the next five days.