After a loss in the Vizag Test, the England Cricket Team will be raring to go at India in the IND vs ENG Rajkot Test. The series lies levelled at 1-1. The Three Lions will be keen to put up a good show and extract a result. The visitors however will miss the services of Jack Leach who has been ruled out of the entire series.
With one spinner out injured and Rehan Ahmed facing visa crisis, England will likely go with 2 spinners. The mystery around the Rajkot pitch still continues. Kuldeep Yadav claimed that the pitch won’t be a rank turner, but would favour spinners. Ollie Pope on the other hand hinted at the possibility of using 2 seamers.
England would therefore opt for the spinner duo of Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir. As for the batting unit, the tourists are hardly going to make any changes. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett are set to open the innings. The duo will be expected to give the Three Lions a good start, as they have been doing in the previous games.
Vice captain Ollie Pope will play at number 3. A lot will be expected from the star of the Hyderabad Test. Joining him at number 4 will be ace batter Joe Root. The star batter has been little slow with his runs and thus English fans would be pinning their hopes on Root to score big.
Lower in the order, comes the enforcer duo of Jonny Bairstow and skipper Ben Stokes at 5 and 6 respectively. Perfectly complimenting the Bazball style of cricket, the duo will aim to go all guns blazing at a rather flat Rajkot pitch. Ben Foakes, the keeper will be the anchor in the lower order.
England Likely to feature 2 Seamers
Finally comes the bowling unit. Ollie Pope has clarified that Ben Stokes won’t be bowling as he continues to regain full fitness on his knee. Hartley and Bashir are the main spinner duo. They will be joined by part time spinner Joe Root.
As for the pacers, James Anderson retains his place. Mark Wood who was rested after the first Test for workload management will be eyeing to feature in the game. It remains to be seen if Wood gets the nod ahead of Ollie Robinson, who too is vying for a spot in the team.
England Predicted XI vs IND for 3rd Test
1. Zak Crawley
2. Ben Duckett
3. Ollie Pope
4. Joe Root
5. Jonny Bairstow
6. Ben Stokes (C)
7. Ben Foakes (Wk)
8. Tom Hartley
9. Shoaib Bashir
10. Mark Wood
11. James Anderson
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