ENG vs IND 2018: India Are In A Good Position: Gautam Gambhir

Veteran Indian batsman Gautam has said India are in a good position in the ongoing third England vs India Test at Trent Bridge.

India came up with their finest batting performance in the ongoing series after being asked to bat first on a lively track. In a game which India cannot afford to lose, the openers set the tone by giving a good platform.

Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul saw off James Anderson and Stuart Broad early on. The duo went on to add 60 runs before Chris Woakes threatened to trigger a collapse. He dismissed both the openers and Cheteshwar Pujara in quick succession to reduce India to 82 for 3.

But captain Virat Kohli (97) and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (81) added 159 runs to bat India to good position. At stumps, India were 307 for 6, their best batting show by far on this tour. This was the first time, India crossed the 300-run mark in five innings of this series. Not only that, this is the first time, any batsman other than Kohli managed to score a fifty.

And Gambhir feels India are in a good position and would be looking to capitalise on it.

“India are in a good position and would be looking to get 80-run runs. If they get to 400, then the bowlers would be happy with the total on board. But in England, we all know that things can change very quickly and India would be hoping for another partnership between Pant and Ashwin and contributions from the three seamers as well.

“Whatever runs you put on the board, it’s going to be important as India are playing with five bowlers. So they’ve gone in the match thinking that they can take 20 wickets, but putting runs on the board will also be very important,” Gambhir told The Times of India.

He further said that Jasprit Bumrah’s return can work out well for the Indian team. Bumrah had missed the limited-overs series as well as the first two Tests against England due to a thumb injury.

“Bringing back Jasprit Bumrah would be important as he is someone who is different and unorthodox. He can get the ball to swing at 140 kmph. I’m sure this is a much better bowling attack what we saw in the second Test match with three seamers plus Ashwin and Hardik Pandya as the fourth seamer if you want to do a containing job,” said Gambhir.

In Bumrah’s absence, the Indian bowling attack though did fairly well in the first Test as they managed to take all 20 English wickets. However, they struggled in the second, picking up only 7 wickets as England thrashed India by an innings and 159 runs to go 2-0 up in the series.

Bumrah made his Test debut earlier this year in South Africa. The pacer was a surprise selection in the Test squad but had gone on impress. He finished the series with 14 wickets, just one shy of Mohammed Shami who was India’s top wicket-taker in this series.