Ind vs Eng: Can a new-look middle order do the job for India?

When was the last time India were on the verge of handing two debut caps in a single Test match, not to speak of seeing three debutants in two matches? The third Test, beginning in Rajkot on Thursday, 14 February, holds such a possibility — making the prospect of an intriguing contest over the next five days.

After a long wait on the sidelines and amassing piles of runs in domestic cricket, the nuggety Sarfaraz Khan’s day of reckoning is set to arrive on Thursday. The entry of Dhruv Jurel, the wicketkeeper-batter from UP (with just 15 first-class matches behind him) in place of K.S. Bharat also looks like a certainty, though there is a school of thought which thinks the Karnataka stumper deserves at least one more chance.

If Sarfaraz steps in for the injured K.L. Rahul and Jurel for Bharat, while Rajat Patidar has already done it for Virat Kohli in the second Test — it makes for the most inexperienced batting line-up fielded by India in a Test match in a long time. With no Kohli or the lack of cushion of experience in Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, it will take a real test of character from the top order to hold their own against a fearless England side.

After skipper Rohit Sharma, the next top order batter with the highest number of Tests is Shubman Gill (22) while Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja — the seasoned spinning allrounders — are the most experienced members in this team with 97 and 69 Tests, respectively.

However, it’s a conscious call on part of the team management and selectors to look ahead and it would be interesting to see how ready this new look line-up is to fight fire with fire.

The batting line-up apart, there is a great deal of interest in the wicket at the Saurashtra Cricket Stadium, which has now been named after Niranjan Shah — a former BCCI secretary and veteran administrator. After Ben Stokes & Co. had counter-attacked Indian spinners with the use of sweeps and reverse sweeps in the first Test at Hyderabad, there seems to have been a distinct change in the template with Vizag providing a flat surface with some slow turns with cracks appearing as the match wore on.  

The feedback from Rajkot is very much on the same lines and believe it or not, it’s not the turn and bounce of Ashwin & Co. who are keeping the English camp worried this time. They are rather cagey about a certain Jasprit Bumrah, who unleashed his bag of tricks on a docile Vizag wicket to walk away with a nine-wicket haul and the player of the match award ahead of double centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal.

There was some talk of Bumrah being rested for the third game, but given its importance with the series evenly poised, there is a change of plan and he may now sit out the fourth Test. The return of Mohammed Siraj will add more teeth to India's new ball attack, while Dravid & Co. should prefer Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav for his wicket-taking abilities to Axar Patel, with batting in mind.

Despite making a promising start to his Test career back in 2017, Kuldeep has featured in a mere nine Tests, and it’s time a wrist spinner of his quality got more breaks rather than the predictable trio of spinners. ‘’I have three fifers to show for in Tests and enjoy the challenge of bowling to the England batters who look to attack,’’ a smiling Kuldeep told the media on Wednesday.

Catch the Match

India vs England

 3^rd Test at Rajkot

 Start: 9.30 am IST