Following a defeat in the opening test, India roared back in scintillating fashion in the 2nd test of the Anderson-Tendulkar victory as they secured a victory by 336 runs, which happens to be their biggest ever away win and first win at Edgbaston.
Shubman Gill was at his best, as was the rest of the batting. The fielding unit, which came under scrutiny after the 1st test, put in a much better effort and ably supported bowlers in their quest to get 20 wickets and win the 2nd match. India has a golden opportunity to take a lead in the series, with winning momentum on their side and the return of Jasprit Bumrah for the Lord’s Test.
England Preview for the 3rd Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Ben Stokes and his side were thoroughly outplayed by an Indian side which were under a lot of pressure. Apart from Jamie Smith and the new no.1 Test batter Harry Brook, the rest of the batting lineup was a letdown.
The duo of Smith and Brook scored 303 runs in the first innings, out of 407. In the 2nd innings, while chasing a mammoth 608, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, and Ben Stokes all got starts but failed to convert them into a big knock, which happened to be the need of the hour.
On the contrary, the bowling unit also did not do any favours as neither of them was able to threaten the Indian batting lineup. Although Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse did bowl a few good spells, but to no avail.
Despite the display in the Edgbaston Test, Stokes and Brendon McCullum have made just one change to the side: Jofra Archer in for Josh Tongue, who happens to be the leading wicket-taker of the series, but is erratic with his line and length.
Archer makes a return to Test cricket after a gap of four years, having played his last test against India in February 2021. So far, the 30-year-old has 42 scalps in 13 tests at an average of 31.05.
In preparation for the 3rd Test, Archer represented Sussex against Durham in the County Championship a few weeks ago, where he bowled in just one innings with figures reading 18-8-32-1 at an economy of an impressive 1.77 and also scored a quickfire 31 with the bat.
His ability to hit the deck hard and generate good pace makes for a mouthwatering battle against the Indian batting lineup.
As regards the pitch, McCullum called for a surface with “plenty of life” in it for the 3rd Test. Initial images of the pitch circulating on social media show it to be a green top, but with England experiencing its driest summer in a while, the wicket could dry up easily, which would bring the Indian spinners into play. Hence, Ben Stokes may want to avoid a fourth innings chase – but it’s called Bazball for a reason, and England will want to make a statement after a humiliating defeat.
India Preview for the 3rd Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy
Who would have thought an Indian team in transition would secure their biggest away win without the aid of their ace pacer, Jasprit Bumrah? Unlike the 1st Test, they scored a little over 1,000 runs and also got the 20 wickets, which Shubman Gill spoke about getting at the start of the series.
Speaking of the Captain himself, he made the most of the easy batting conditions and scored 430 runs in the match (269 and 161), which happens to be the second highest aggregate in a Test behind Graham Gooch’s 456 back in 1990.
He also happens to be the second batter to make two 150-plus scores in a Test and one of nine batters with a century and double century in the same Test. Furthermore, the 25-year-old can break a couple of more records with three matches to go: he is in line to break Don Bradman’s 88-year-old record for most runs as a captain in a series (810 runs) and most runs by a player in the series, which is also held by the Australian legend (974 runs).
If the pitches continue to aid batters, Gill can create history, having already scored 585 runs in four innings at an average of 146.25 with three centuries – the record being five centuries by Clyde Walcott.
Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant also continued along his merry ways and struck at 112, to score 65 in the 2nd innings in the most Pant-way possible.
On the contrary, the bowling stepped up in the absence of Bumrah. Akash Deep became the 8th Indian seamer to secure a 10-wicket haul and the first since 2018 (4-88 and 6-99), while Siraj was at his best, with figures of 7-127 in the Edgbaston Test.
Bumrah seems more likely to replace Prasidh Krishna, who happened to be impressive during the England run chase but went for 5.5 an over in the first innings. Washington Sundar can also be replaced, and Gill could head into this test with four out-and-out pacers, but the off-spinner drifted the ball and got some help from the pitch as well, also to mention the 42 runs he scored.
The veteran Ravindra Jadeja was highly effective and made full use of the rough patches when England were in pursuit of 608. He troubled Ben Stokes and even bowled and quick 97-second over, which helped India slip in one last over before lunch, where Sundar caught the English captain dead in front.
A rather out-of-the-box and risky move by Gautam Gambhir and Co. could be to insert Sai Sudharshan for Sundar, but this would again change the batting lineup and leave India with just three specialist bowlers and Jadeja and Nitish Reddy.
Moreover, Karun Nair was able to get starts (26 and 31) but was unable to make the most of them. Hereby, it remains to be seen whether India will stick with the 33-year-old at Lord’s or have him replaced.
After becoming the first Asian side to win a Test at Edgbaston, India will look to secure a win at Lord’s, where they have the best record in England and as a result, take an all-important lead in the five-match series.
Lineup for England vs India 3rd Test
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt), 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Brydon Carse, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Shoaib Bashir
India: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Karun Nair, 4 Shubman Gill (capt), 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Akash Deep, 11 Mohammed Siraj
