ENG vs IND 2018: India Likely to Make Three Changes at Trent Bridge

Team India is likely to make three changes to their first XI for the third of the five-match Test series against England at Trent Bridge starting from August 18 (Saturday).

Meanwhile, India are currently 2-0 down in the series and have an uphill task ahead of them to bounce back. However, coach Ravi Shastri said there was not a single ‘negative bone’ in the team and called for batsmen to show some grit.

There have been a lot of speculations over India’s team selection at Lord’s. Later, Shastri conceded their mistake and this time around they are likely to bring three changes to the first XI. Moreover, they are likely to continue with the same formation of five batsmen.

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Rishabh Pant is all set to make his debut in place Dinesh Karthik, who is going through a lean patch. Moreover, there are reports he has suffered a finger injury ahead of the Test match. Pant has been in England for quite some time now and has adequate match practise and will look to make the most out of this opportunity.

On the other, fit-again Jasprit Bumrah comes in for Kuldeep Yadav. Bumrah had a terrific debut series and will look to start the tour on a high. Shikhar Dhawan is likely to slot back at the top-order in place of struggling Murali Vijay. Dhawan missed the second Test after the team management decided to drop him after a string of poor scores.

Hearing about three changes today – Rishab Pant for DK, Jasprit Bumrah for Kuldeep and Shikhar for Vijay. This would mean the balance remains the same, India going in with 5 batsmen only #IndvEng

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) August 18, 2018

Batsmen need to do well for India at Trent Bridge

The Indian batsmen have struggled to offer any resistance against the English seamers. They put on 107 and 130 in the two innings at Lord’s with Ravichandran Ashwin topping the scoring sheet. No batsman crossed fifty across innings, and there was only one 50-run partnership for the visitors in the entire match.

Murali Vijay failed once again bagging a pair. KL Rahul hasn’t been able to live upto his expectations. Cheteshwar Pujara, who came back to the first XI also didn’t offer much after an unfortunate runout in the first innings. Ajinkya Rahane, who scored an outstanding hundred the last time India played here, was also a failure.

They will be keen to not repeat their mistakes and save the series at Trent Bridge.