With the series locked at 1-1, what will the makeup of India’s playing XI for the 3rd Test against England? Will Sarfaraz Khan finally make his Test debut in Rajkot? Or will India prefer the left-handed Devdutt Padikkal over the Mumbai right-hander? What will be the bowling combination? Questions galore for Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid ahead of the 3rd Test at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Padikkal has been added to the squad as a replacement for KL Rahul, who is ruled out from the first Test owing to the quad injury that kept him out of the second Test. Ravindra Jadeja is declared fit and will slot back in the XI, but in place of who it’s unclear.
Sarfaraz Khan should make his Test debut in Rajkot. Here’s why:
With Rahul injured, Shreyas Iyer dropped, and Virat Kohli unavailable, there seems no proper reason why Sarfaraz Khan should not get his maiden Test cap in Rajkot. The 26-year-old averages a whopping 69 after 45 first-class matches. And while Padikkal has a good average of 44 after 31 first-class games, it dwarfs in front of Sarfaraz’s 69, who is also coming on the back of scores of 161, 55, and 96 against England Lions and 68 vs South Africa A.
Another potential debutant could be youngster Dhruv Jurel. With KS Bharat not performing well with the bat – an average of 20 after 7 Tests – stars seemed to have aligned for Dhruv Jurel, who averages 46 in 15 FC games, to get his India cap at the age of 23.
Coming to the bowling combination, India are expected to pick two pacers given the Rajkot surface is good for batting, along with three spinners. Mohammed Siraj, who was rested from Vizag, is likely to slot back in for Mukesh Kumar. Among the spinners, R Ashwin and Jadeja are a lock. The question remains do India drop the X-factor, wicket-taking spinner in Kuldeep or do they sacrifice the batting depth that Axar provides them?
India predicted playing XI for 3rd Test:
Rohit Sharma (C)
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Shubman Gill
Rajat Patidar
Sarfaraz Khan
Ravindra Jadeja
Dhruv Jurel (wk)
Axar Patel/Siraj
R Ashwin
Jasprit Bumrah
Kuldeep Yadav/Siraj
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