Rishabh Pant continues to gear up after England calls back Jack Leach as a change in bowling after Ben Stokes’ overdose in extras have forced him to stop for a while.
Rishabh Pant smashed 20 runs in 4 balls to Jack Leach and smashed one 94 m six and another for 100 m in the last ball. Frustrated Jack Leach is haunted by the absolute attack and England have started putting 3-4 players to the boundaries as India are close to 300 runs.
The only Test left to play in Birmingham is live and in action as Ben Stokes, skipper of team England won the toss to allow the visitors to bat first.
Team England will start by bowling first and the decision seems tactical enough to catch the attention that team India has not experienced a good time South Africa Test series and the abroad conditions have been not played much past these months and the home side will be looking to take advantage to it.
Team India leads the ongoing series since 2021, with 2-1 and the home side has a potential opportunity to equal the series and snatch away the historical win for the Asian side as well as Bumrah’s maiden win as a captain.
Teams:
India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah(c)
England (Playing XI): Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Sam Billings(w), Matty Potts, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, James Anderson
Jasprit Bumrah | India captain: It’s a good feeling (to be captain) and is a big privilege. Can’t get better than this. Excited and looking forward to this. Very happy with the preparation. Wanted to spend a lot of time and get used to the English conditions, as we came back from T20s. Happy with the preparation, now it’s for the mental side to take over. Four bowlers – myself, Siraj, Shardul and Shami along with Jaddu as the all-rounder.
Ben Stokes | England captain: We’re gonna have a bowl. We’ve done well chasing and it’s also to see how the wicket will behave. It’s obviously good to come into a new series so quickly. Gives us the opportunity to keep the momentum rolling. We’re going to keep the same attitude going.
