Cheteshwar Pujara is playing constantly well and has passed the first drinks break without losing his wicket.
Stuart Broad continues to bowl from one end while James Anderson has been given rest. One of the Broad’s delivery missed Pujara and went into the hands of keeper but the sound made it eager for England to appeal quickly.
Umpire Aleem Dar too heard a noise to give Pujara a single finger for “OUT” but Pujara instantly took the DRS which showed that the thighs were the only contact of the ball and thereafter the LBW tracker was missing the stumps which forced umpire Aleem to overturn his decision.
A negative mark has been added to umpire Aleem’s report but fortunate for team India that Pujara continues to play with Hanuma Vihari settling up.
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
