In Stats: Injuries, Replacements & Rahane on Virat Kohli’s Mind

While India will pumped by their win, England have plenty to worry about ahead of the third Test in Mohali.

The Indian cricket team will look to build a two-nil lead over the visiting England side when the two teams come up against each other in the third Test match that begins at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium in Mohali from Saturday. The Virat Kohli-led Indian team took a one-nil lead in the five-Test series after they defeated the tourists in the second Test match in Visakhapatnam.

While India will be all pumped by their performance in the second Test, England have plenty to worry about. In Visakhapatnam, they suffered their biggest defeat (by runs) in the sub-continent, and were bowled out for their second-lowest total among the matches they have played in India.

Having to lift oneself after such a big defeat is a huge task by itself. England’s task is compounded by the selection issues they have to address. Foremost is the selection of their number four; it is almost now a given that Ben Duckett – with scores of 13, 5 and 0 – will make room for Jos Buttler.

The former England captain Michael Atherton has suggested that if Duckett is dropped, everyone else in the line-up should move one place up, allowing Buttler the freedom to play his natural game at number seven. It will be a ridiculous decision by England to bench Duckett – who is just four Test matches old. The selection of Buttler will be bizarre too, for the 26-year old has played only one first-class match in the last 13 months.

Is England pressing the panic button already – with three more Test matches remaining to be played in the series?

England’s biggest worries surround the availability of Stuart Broad. The 30-year-old reported an injured tendon in the previous Test match and subsequently had scans on his foot. Though the fast bowler himself sounded optimistic about playing in Mohali, one expects the England management will tread cautiously and rest him, instead giving Chris Woakes a place in the XI. The former was very impressive in the first Test in Rajkot, and he could return to partner James Anderson.

Among the other decisions calling for attention from the England management are who to play in place of the injured Zafar Ansari. Do they go like-for-like and play Gareth Batty, or do they go for another fast bowler (making it four quicks in the XI), or do they pick an extra batsman? Which will mean fielding the out-of-form Duckett or Gary Ballance.

With the pitch at Mohali being reported as dry and bald, it is likely that England will look for extra cushion in the spin department and look at giving Gareth Batty another outing.

The one statistic the England team and their supporters can take heart from is that on their recent tours of India, they have done well in the third Test match of the series.

Where India are concerned, there will be one definite change to the line-up; Parthiv Patel will don the gloves to replace the injured wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. Parthiv makes a comeback to the Indian Test team after more than 8 years. He last played a Test match for India in 2008 when current coach Anil Kumble was captain.

The Gujarat stumper has been phenomenal with the bat in recent years. He has amassed more than 5000 runs in first-class cricket since his last Test appearance.

Though India are ahead in the series, they shouldn’t look over areas they could do better. As a pair, the openers haven’t got enough runs on the board. The average opening partnership in the nine Test matches that India have played this year is 29.71.

TRIVIA | India’s average opening partnership in Tests in 2016 is 29.71. In contrast, England’s average opening partnership in Tests this year is 43.44.

Further, India should be concerned by the lack of runs from Ajinkya Rahane. The 28-year old is a vital cog in the middle-order and had scored runs against West Indies and New Zealand. But in this big series, India cannot afford to not have Rahane among the runs.

Furthermore, the Indian team management will want more returns from Umesh Yadav. Though the Vidarbha quick was impressive with his speeds and was disciplined in the Vizag Test, he has only 3 wickets in the series and India will ideally want the new ball bowlers to cause a little more damage.

Probable XI:

India: Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Parthiv Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav/Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami.

England: Alastair Cook, Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, James Anderson, Gareth Batty.