India vs England 2018: An Exciting Test Series

England v India: Specsavers 3rd Test - Day Three

The Trent Bridge Test just showed the prowess of this Indian team. After being humiliated at Lord's and thus being 2-0 down in the series, team India bounced back like a champion in the third Test at Trent Bridge.

Team India surely showed the world why they are the No.1 ranked Test team in the world. The win at Trent Bridge has not only opened up the series, but has also made it quite exciting for the next two games. So, have India finally found their balance?

Prior to this game, the Indian team was found to tinker a lot with the opening combination-Shikhar & Vijay at Edgbaston, Vijay & Rahul at Lord's, and finally Shikhar and Rahul at Trent Bridge (which finally clicked).

However, what were the choices if the combination of Shikhar & Rahul had failed? Changing the opening pair was not the correct thing to do actually. The batsmen just needed to see through the initial phase and bank on the poor deliveries for scoring runs. That was missing, probably from everyone in the first two matches. Of course, Kohli is an exception as he is playing the game on a different level.

And we can't really complain about the bowling efforts of Indian bowlers. They were the only saving grace in the first two losses. The batsmen failed, but the bowlers stuck around and did their job. However, they were not complemented by the fielders with some very poor slip catching.

The visitors, however, looked into all the loopholes and did their homework quite well to come back 1-2 in the series. With the win, the series is wide open. Indian team actually outplayed England in every department - Batting, bowling, as well as fielding. KL Rahul was absolutely magnificent in the slips. Kohli took one excellent catch in the third slip too.

For India, the opening pair delivered two successive 60 runs stand. Pujara and Rahane came to the party as well; such an integral part of this team. Kohli, of course, is Kohli. He has been milking runs for fun in the series. The contributions from Hardik and the rest of the pacers was excellent. It seems India has finally found the right combination for the remainder of the series.

For England, however, nothing is going their way. Their openers are not delivering, Root doesn't look in touch and Bairstow's finger injury has rubbed salt into their wounds. Adil Rashid hasn't looked threatening enough. It wouldn't be surprising if India starts as favourites ahead of the 4th Test match.

This series has truly shown how exciting Test match cricket can really be!!