England and India are all set to play their 3rd test match on 25 August 2021, and everyone was expecting a Headingley pitch a green top. But for now, it is looking like England plans are different for this match, As it is seen in the past ;Headingley pitch is one of the tracks which favor the pacers most. But in the pre-match press conference, Virat Kohli made a shocking or you can say unanticipated statement where he said that there is not much grass on the pitch and it surprises me because I just can’t digest that you are playing in Leeds and there is no grass on the pitch, and this also says a lot about England team state of mind. After the Lords and Trent-Bridge match, England has found that the Indian pacers’ battery is too good for their batsmen. And except Joe Root in both matches, there are no single batsmen you can point out and say that he looks confident all the time. And even when I am discussing with my friends latter we were discussing like who is playing on home ground, because England was flattered by Indian Bowling and completely get dominated by Indian bowling which speaks a ton about their batsmen ability and Yes, of course, our Indian Bowlers were firing shots on both matches.
What India can do from here? Virat Kohli has said during the press conference that they have decided their 12 men for tomorrow’s match and on the toss, they will announce whom they will play. I think after this statement, this makes a solid case for R. Ashwin as if the wicket is not covered with the grass there is a high chance that on day 4 or day 5 wicket will get dry and the spinners will come into play. But the main question is that if Ashwin plays the match then who he will replace. There can be many permutations and combinations we can make about the 11. In a realistic world, if Ashwin is supposed to play then he should replace Ishant or Jadeja. But if he comes in place of Jadeja then our batting will look weak as the last batsmen will be Rishabh Pant on Number 6. And from 7 it will be Ashwin which is not a good idea because, in India, you can still back Ashwin to bat on Number 7 but in England, you need more solid batsmen like Jadeja. And if India doesn’t want to go with Jadeja then they can go with Shardul Thakur and Ashwin, so in that way, you are getting a frontline spinner and getting a fast-bowling all-rounder like Thakur who has shown in Australia that he can score runs. Or as I said earlier make one change only you can replace Ishant with Ashwin. And I don’t think India will go wild with the changes, there is a high probability we can see the same 11 or Ashwin making in the 11 because India will also want to seal the series first. And you don’t get a better chance to beat England in England. And India has everything that they need right now and by winning the Leeds match, they will put themselves in a position from where they can’t lose a series. So I am going for India to win this test match and but England can retaliate as they are the host nation and 2 good sessions in your favor and you start believing yourself and momentum got changes and the crowd comes behind your back and then what happens next you never know. But still, I feel if India does what they are doing in the last two matches they can win this match.
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Sportsoff 