How Virat Kohli's men can line up for the 3rd test against England
In the 5 match test series versus England, India are already 2-0 down after their humiliating defeat in the 2nd Test, at Lord's.
The Indian team got outplayed by the Englishmen in all departments of the game. But the much-famed batting lineup was the biggest disappointment. All the Indian batsmen, except Virat Kohli and R Ashwin, struggled against the immaculate swing bowling of the English team.
With their backs to the wall, the 3rd test will be a do-or-die contest for the Indian team.
If they want to make a comeback, they need to win this game. In order to win the game, their batsmen need to score runs. They have to come out of their ultra-defensive approach and play fearless cricket.
With some of the players totally out of form, India requires to make some changes in the team combination in order to put up a better performance in the third test match.
In this article we try and look at, what can be India's playing XI, in the upcoming 3rd Test match at Nottingham.
Openers: Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara
Both Murali Vijay and KL Rahul were totally at sea against the swinging ball in all the 4 innings they played. So India needs to bring back Shikhar Dhawan and try and elevate Cheteshwar Pujara as the second opener.
With his solid defence, Pujara will be the ideal man, to see off the new ball, and make life easy for the middle order batsmen.
On the other hand, Dhawan with his attacking strokeplay will keep the scoreboard moving. Moreover, they will form a left-right combination, which might cause some difficulty to the English bowlers.
Middle order: Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant
India should try out Ajinkya Rahane at the number three position. Rahane has been struggling to score runs, at the number 5 position. A change in the batting order might bring back his lost confidence.
At the No 4 position, Virat Kohli is an automatic choice. However, his fitness will be a cause for concern. Karun Nair should make a comeback to the test team and be India's number 5.
The talented and explosive keeper-batsman, Rishabh Pant, should replace Dinesh Karthik, who had a poor series thus far. Pant should be India's number 6.
All-rounders: R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja
R Ashwin has been one of the better players of the English swing bowling. With the ball also, he has delivered, by picking up crucial wickets. He should be India's number 7.
Hardik Pandya, whose performance with both the bat and the ball has been below par in the first two test matches, should be replaced by the more experienced, Ravindra Jadeja, who is the No 2 allrounder in the world.
Jadeja is a much more accomplished bowler than Pandya and with the bat also, he can be quite handy.
Bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Jadav
India should not repeat the mistake of playing with only two and not three genuine fast bowlers.
The lack of a pacer made the Indian bowling line-up look less threatening in the Lord's Test compared to the 1st test at Edgbaston.
Kuldeep Jadav should make way to Umesh Yadav. Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav should be the three Indian pacers of the third test match.