England-India 2018: Best possible XI for India in the third Test
How does the Indian cricket proceed to come out of the quicksand pit that they have taken pains to get themselves in?
The top order Indian batsmen are, barring Chateshwar Pujara, naturally attacking players. As much as the top class bowing of the English seamers, it is the hesitation shown by these batsmen to score singles when they can, that resulted in them being dominated by the English bowlers at Lord’s.
The team management, with the limited resources on hand, now have their task cut out to try and win the next match at Trent Bridge. The English summer has set in and the weather forecasts suggest little respite from cloudy skies. The need of the hour is for the Indian batsmen to play their natural game.
Openers
Shikhar Dhawan should come into the team in place of Murali Vijay. With not much to choose between the two current openers given their performance in the past few tests in similar conditions, KL Rahul retains his place. The left-right combination can unsettle the English the England bowlers. Both players also have the ability to change the course of the game in a short period of time.
Middle order
Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane make up the middle order. Pujara is a consistent batsman and has the acumen to hold up one end while playing long innings. Virat Kohli takes his usual number four position and continues with the good work he has been so far with his prowess. Rahane, though he has not been very successful so far in the tour, has the experience to recover and play an important inning.
Wicketkeeper-batsman
Rishabh Pant comes in the place of Dinesh Kartik. Pant will be a debutant and has been playing in England with India A team for some time now and has performed well. He is an explosive batsman and an able wicketkeeper while Kartik has not done too well so far. A fresh player on the team, he does not have a poor record to redeem.
Bowlers
Hardik Pandya retains his place as he has not bowled too badly in the last two tests and has the potential to play a telling inning as a batsman. Jasprit Bumrah replaces Kuldeep Yadav. Bumrah has a distinctive and unorthodox sling arm action and natural pace. Batsmen have found it difficult to pick up the ball and play him comfortably.
Mohammed Shami, who has been able to exploit the prevalent conditions so far, along with Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin make up the rest of the team. Ishant has bowled well particularly to the left-hand batsmen. Ashwin too has bowled well so far while being the top scorer in both the innings at Lord's.