If the pictures coming out of Team India‘s training session are anything to go by, it appears that the hosts are set to make a number of changes to the playing eleven for the third Test against England. The third match of the ongoing IND vs ENG 2024 five-Test series is scheduled to be played in Rajkot from Thursday (February 15).
The home side will be forced to make a few changes to the middle-order anyway due to unavailability of some players. Shreyas Iyer, who played in the second Test, has been dropped from the final three Tests of the series. On the other hand, KL Rahul is still not fit for the crucial game.
The right-handed batsman missed the second Test due to an injury he sustained in the first Test and is yet to get the clearance from the BCCI medical team. The selectors have added uncapped Devdutt Padikkal to the squad as Rahul’s replacement.
India to make changes:
Star batsman Virat Kohli is also unavailable for the series. As a result, Team India are set to have a new-look middle-order in the third Test. A photo posted on X shows uncapped wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel keeping the wickets and he was accompanied by Sarfaraz Khan in the slip.
Recent reports have stated that both Jurel and Sarfaraz are set to make their debut in the upcoming game. With KS Bharat failing to impress with the bat, Jurel is set to replace him in the playing eleven. On the other hand, Sarfaraz is set to get a chance in the playing eleven after Iyer was dropped.
Jurel as keeper, Sarfaraz in 1st slip, Jaiswal in 2nd slip & Patidar in gully during practice session. [Gaurav Gupta from TOI] pic.twitter.com/BYXtXnvB9l
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 13, 2024
The five-match series is currently locked at 1-1. England won the series-opener by 28 runs before India bounced back and won the second Test by 106 runs to draw level in the series. With momentum on their side, India will be aiming to make the most of it and win the third Test as well to take the lead in the series.
