Fired up India take on depleted England at Headingley

Overview:

England v India, third Test

Headingley, Leeds

25-29 August, 11:00 Local

India carry the momentum in their favour with the win at Lord’s still afresh. The openers, KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have found tremendous form that has helped the visitors to lay a solid foundation in the batting department.

The positives for India don't stop here. With the tail now wagging more consistently, the touring side have now found a balance with going ahead with four fast bowlers.

England on the other hand have had to deal with yet another injury blow that ruled out Mark Wood from the third Test, which could result in the debut for Saqib Mahmood or pave the return of Craig Overton.

With Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley dropped from the side, Rory Burns is expected to open the proceedings for the hosts along with Haseeb Hameed; while Dawid Malan slots in later.

A win for either side will go long way in establishing their supremacy in the top half of the ICC World Test Championship table.

Remember the last time:

India bowlers powered the visitors to a historic win by a massive 151-run margin in the final session of the final day at Lord’s.

Batting first, India posted a formidable first-innings total of 364, led by KL Rahul’s 129 and Rohit Sharma’s 83 while James Anderson returned a five-wicket haul. However, England gave a fitting reply to the visitors with captain Joe Root paving the way with his unbeaten 180* supported by Johnny Bairstow’s 57.

India trailed behind by 27 runs and this time the top three were sent packing as they stuttered to 55/3. Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara then found their feet and stitched together a crucial 100-run stand. However, after that partnership was broken, the Indian innings imploded from 155/3 to 209/8.

Thereafter, Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah showcased resilience to England’s bowling with an 89-run partnership for the ninth wicket that came in 120 balls.

India declared the innings setting England a target of 272 and just two sessions remaining to force a result. The visitors then moved to dismiss the hosts for 120 runs with eight overs to spare in the day, with Root again high-scoring for England with 33.

What they said:

Ajinkya Rahane (India vice-captain):“2014, and 2018 is past now. We are anyway not taking it lightly. We have moved on. Our approach has been to take one Test match at a time. Whether we win or lose, it is important that we stay in the present. We are confident about our unit, it’s all about focusing on this match.”

Joe Root (England captain):“It has been a very challenging summer. We have come across some challenging surfaces as well and we have to find ways of getting better, keep improving ourselves individually. Collectively when you look at batting in Test cricket, it revolves around big partnerships, if two guys bat for a long period of time, the game can look completely different.”