England vs India 2018: 2nd Test, Lord's - Five Talking Points of Day Three

Before shedding the light on five talking points, the rain has been one of the major issues in the ongoing second Test of England vs India at Lord’s. The Three Lions enjoy for being in the driver’s seat after flamboyant efforts from Chris Woakes and Jonny Bairstow on day three.

After England invited India to bat first amid overcast conditions in London, India would have been humbled if the game would have prevailed without any interrupt whatsoever. Due to torrential downpour and frequent breaks, it helped English bowlers to make most out of the surface.

India could only survive in 35.2 overs of the day and could amass 107. Ravichandran Ashwin was the top scorer from India with 29.

Here are the five talking points of the day three of the second Test underway at Lord’s.

Love of Virat Kohli for team changes:

One who followed the captaincy tenure of Virat Kohli would know this part of the story. In the second Test, it was the 37th occasion when Virat Kohli shuffled his playing XI.

In the second Test, Cheteshwar Pujara made it to playing XI whereas, Shikhar Dhawan faced an axe. Similarly, Kuldeep Yadav made his debut in place of speedster Umesh Yadav.

When it comes to tinkering with the playing XI, Kohli seems quite obsessive with his moves. There is no doubt that he misses a more significant push what Mahendra Singh Dhoni could have done.

The unimpressive maiden appearance in the UK in Tests from Kuldeep Yadav:

The cricketing world was anxiously waiting to see the Chinaman in his maiden appearance while donning whites in the United Kingdom (UK). However, it did not prove a dream debut from him in England.

While Kuldeep got a chance to prove himself in a pace friendly conditions, he finds it hard to wait for his turn.

Kuldeep got only nine overs to bowl on day three. Besides being wicketless, he leaked 44 runs with one maiden.

Impressive Mohammed Shami:

The right-arm fast bowler from India, Mohammed Shami once led the pace attack of India. Presently being the ace bowler of Team India, Shami throughout the day bowled on an active channel. He bowled with the perfect seam to get wickets.

Shami did not get any support from other bowlers as India missed a genuine third seamer on a bowling paradise. Mohammad Shami bagged three wickets while bowling 19 overs which including four maidens.

Jonny Bairstow topples the table:

England was struggling on 89 after losing four top-order batsmen in quick succession.

However, wicketkeeper-batsman Bairstow alongside Jos Buttler added a much-needed partnership of 42, before Buttler fell prey of Shami.

Bairstow continued the same show with the newcomer Chris Woakes and knocked India almost out of this match.

Besides this, he leapfrogged Virat Kohli to top the chart of most runs scored in the year 2018. Bairstow missed his well deserved century by a margin of eight runs.

Maiden ton from Chris Woakes:

The impressive Chris Woakes helped England to head towards a big total in the first innings at the iconic venue Lord’s. He scored his unbeaten maiden ton and is unbeaten on 120.

Woakes found the fence eighteen times in his innings and displayed sheer domination upon Indian bowling since making it to the crease.

He also made it to Lord’s honour’s board for his all-around performance after replacing Ben Stokes, who is facing an affray trial. As of now, England is leading the five-match series 1-0 while holding the upper hand in the second Test against India.

So, tell us what would have been your five talking points of the day three.