The day which was eagerly awaited is finally upon us as India takes on England for the last Test match of the series. This is a very different English side that the India team is taking upon. With Stokes and Baz McCullum at the helm of things, India has a very stiff challenge ahead of them and they will have to play out of their skins to win the match.
The Indian team faced two major setbacks with KL Rahul being ruled out of the match due to a groin injury and later Rohit Sharma missed out on the Test match as he tested positive for COVID-19. Bumrah will be leading the side and India will hope that he can deliver both as a captain and as a bowler.
Punjab batsman and Gujarat Titans veteran Shubhman Gill had been assigned the responsibility to open the innings and play out the first hour which would have avoided England to gain an advantage in the match. Skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and invited India to bat first sensing the overcast conditions which will act as a huge benefit for his pace battery which includes the likes of James Anderson, Matthew Potts, and Stuart Broad.
With five slip fielders in place and James Anderson steaming in, both Gill and Pujara were expected to play out the first hour. English veteran Anderson kept bowling outside off and Shubhman Gill fell prey to his tactics. He nicked one ball which traveled straight to Zack Crawley who was stationed at second slip.
Since that Gabba Test match, Gill hasn't been able to deliver much and will soon want to turn his fortunes around and start delivering for the team.
England Playing XI: Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Sam Billings, Matty Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson
India Playing XI: Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
