Kohli eyeing big scores and giving India an unassailable lead

Skipper Virat Kohli will look to give India an unassailable lead in the five-match series with a big score against England in the third Test against England, starting here on Wednesday, overcoming his long-running form.
Kohli scored his last international century in November 2019. He crossed the 40-run mark on two occasions in the current series but failed to score big. However, big scores are always expected from him.
He lost his wickets in the first two Test matches on balls that went outside the off-stump. In such a situation, he is expected to bat with better technique in front of such balls in the handiangle.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane’s form is also a matter of concern for India. Both of them, however, have shown signs of a return to form after batting for almost 50 overs on the fourth day of the Lord’s Test. This dragged the match to the fifth day after which the fast bowlers gave India a win and lead the series 1-0.
Openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul’s performances have been a positive aspect for India in the batting department. Both of them got India off to a good start by presenting a good example of their restraint and technique in challenging conditions.
Rahul, who replaced the injured Mayank Agarwal in the squad, looked more confident in each subsequent innings and seems to be sure of which deliveries to play and which to leave given the tough conditions in England. is important in.
Rohit also seems to be in very good shape and needs to be sure of when to play his favorite pull shot as he was dismissed on two occasions in the series.
Rishabh Pant is batting in his natural style while Ravindra Jadeja has also played a very good role at number seven. It can be said that he is playing more of a batsman than a left-arm spinner in the team.
The conditions at Headingley are likely to be favorable for the fast bowlers and India can go with four fast bowlers. In such a situation, there will be no place for Ravichandran Ashwin in the playing XI again. Shardul Thakur is fit but it doesn’t look like Kohli will make any changes in his pace attack.
Ishant Sharma, who missed the first Test, bowled impressively at Lord’s and the veteran pacer is likely to get priority over Thakur. Thakur is inferior to Ishant in bowling but better in batting.
India’s world-class attack has strengthened with the arrival of Mohammad Siraj. Siraj bowled brilliantly on the fifth day at Lord’s. He has consistently impressed with his precise bowling.
India last played here in 2002 when they won by an innings and 46 runs. None of the players of the current team have experience of playing on this ground. It will be interesting to see how quickly they adjust to the situation.
England hope that with the arrival of David Malan, their batting weakness will be removed. Malan played his last Test three years ago but he has good first-class cricket experience.
The left-handed batsman will play at number three and in such a situation, Haseeb Hameed may have to open the innings with Rory Burns. England’s batsmen will have to support captain Joe Root by finding a way to score runs. So far Root has scored most of the runs for England.
Mark Wood, who has troubled the Indian batsmen with his extra bounce, is injured and in such a situation, Sadiq Mahmood may get a chance to make his Test debut.
Root confirmed before the match that there was no fitness issue except for Wood and lead pacer James Anderson was in good shape.
Root also indicated that the players would not get into an argument as players from both the teams sparred at each other at Lord’s but India got the most advantage.
The teams are as follows:
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mayank Agarwal, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prithvi Sauv, Suryakumar Yadav.
England: Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Haseeb Hameed, Dan Lawrence, Saqib Mahmood, David Malan, Craig Overton, Ollie Pope, Olly Robinson.
The match will start at 3.30 pm Indian time.