India look to rewrite history as Headingley braces itself for yet another classic

Eight days. That is what these two sides have had to reflect on what happened at Lord’s. During these Covid times where the schedule is unrelenting, such a break is almost unprecedented. But it ought to be an invaluable, welcome rest for both sides who know that the movie has merely just begun - the twists and turns are yet to come. The script is bound to be far from predictable, notwithstanding what happened across the first two games. 

India, of all teams, know this. They’ve lived through this story way too many times to get fooled once again. Seven years ago they went into the third Test of a five-match series having drawn the first at Trent Bridge and won the second at Lord’s. Three Tests later they walked out on the other side battered and bruised, having lost all the remaining matches. A dominant win also proved to be a red herring, a precursor to disaster when they last toured England, in 2018. 

So while Lord’s was a very, very special win, India will know that those 51.5 overs of invincibility on the final day will count for little should they not back it up with an equally spirited performance at Headingley. Kohli will be wary of the fact that a victory in Leeds will add credibility to this Indian side’s reputation as one of the greatest in the sport’s 144-year history. 

For England and Joe Root, it will be about showing character - something they did not do at Lord’s. It will also be about restoring pride and regaining the trust of fans, something that seems to slowly be waning away with every Test his side plays. Much of it is due to the betrayal by a system and board that has surrendered itself to the allures of white-ball cricket thus England, in every sense, will be up against the odds.

What they will take heart from is that they’ve been here before; they’ve had their backs against the wall and have overcome the odds. Most recently, their fighting spirit came to the fore when they last played a Test at Headingley. With the Ashes on the line, their talisman Ben Stokes, played a hall-of-fame worthy knock that immortalized his status as an England legend. 

To expect such a miracle again would be unrealistic, but if every individual that takes to the field in the third Test with the courage and tenacity Stokes displayed two years ago, then victory might not be out of the realm of possibility. 

Talking Points

Rory Burns’ last chance to escape the dreaded axe?

What started off as Rory Burns, Dominic Sibley and Zak Crawley at Trent Bridge became just Burns and Sibley at Lord’s. The second Test sealed Sibley’s fate and so now heading into Leeds, it’s Burns who is the last man standing. And he, too, is skating on thin ice, having averaged 16.75 across the first two Tests. The 132 and 81 against New Zealand at the start of the summer earned Burns enough credit to retain his place, but he will know that he is living on borrowed time; failure to post a significant score will inevitably spell doom. 

Though statistically, outside of Sir Alastair Cook, he is the best English opener in the last eight years, it is important to acknowledge that the bar is incredibly low: Burns still averages only 31.92 in Test cricket and this number further plummets to 23.93 since August 2020. Sibley and Crawley have endured their punishments but the unpunished Burns, too, has been at the forefront of England’s problems, having registered ducks in a staggering 41.6% of his knocks in 2021, including in 3 of his last 5 innings.

The Grim Reaper is waiting out there in the dark ready to swing his scythe. Whether Burns escapes the fatal wield will fully depend on how he fares at Headingley.

Can Rahane and Pujara back up their Lord’s heroics?

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane responded to a lot of critics in style through their 100-run partnership at Lord’s. But a myriad questions still remain unanswered heading into the third Test, one of which is if the two batters have actually regained their form and can now be relied upon heading forward. 

With Rahane, the pattern of late has been such that he follows match-defining knocks up with a string of uninspiring low scores. 

The 112 at the MCG was followed by scores of 27*, 22, 4, 37 and 24 while in the following series against England, he backed an excellent 67 in Chennai with 10, 7 and 27. More recently, a very promising 49 in the WTC Final was backed up with scores of 15, 5 and 1. Put simply, the Mumbaikar has struggled to string together two meaningful scores, with him delivering knocks of impact only once every seven or eight innings. 

Pujara has struggled to translate time spent in the middle into runs, but his consistency away from home has been a cause for concern. In 12 away Tests since 2019, only once has Pujara managed to pass 30 or more in consecutive innings. Only twice he managed to post 30+ scores in consecutive Tests.

The resilience and grit the two batters showed at Lord’s was impressive, but perhaps it’s worth waiting a bit longer before declaring Pujara and Rahane as ‘back to form’. Consolidation of success is key, thus how these two fare at Headingley will go a long way in determining how long they co-exist in the side.

Time for England to take the harsh Sam Curran decision?

Even prior to the series there was little doubt that batting was going to be England’s Achilles heel, but their world-class bowling attack was supposed to mask the flaws. That hasn't happened. And with Mark Wood now joining Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes, Ollie Stone and Jofra Archer in the list of casualties, the hosts are in a mini bowling crisis heading into the third Test. 

In this scenario, it would be judicious on England’s part to ponder the merit of having Sam Curran in the XI. For the left-armer’s lack of incision has made their attack less penetrative.

Having operated as the fourth seamer, Curran has been the least threatening bowler across both sides by some distance. His bowling average and strike rate of 171.0 and 330.0 is the worst for any bowler across the two sides, but more concerning is his inability to extract swing that made him a menace three years ago.

With Saqib Mahmood likely to replace Wood, perhaps England could consider drafting in Craig Overton in place of Curran to bolster their seam attack. Overton is in the form of his life - he’s averaging 13.40 with the ball this county season - and he’s no mug with the bat, either, having notched up 14 fifty-plus scores in first class Cricket.

Whether Overton would provide the same edge with the bat as Curran is debatable, but, as things stand, he would be quite an upgrade with the ball. That should be a reason enough for the Somerset man to get the nod.  

The Ashwin conundrum: should India fix something that is not broken?

For the third Test running, there is a raging debate as to whether Ravichandran Ashwin should find a spot in the playing XI. “Anything is possible,” said Indian skipper Virat Kohli at the press conference, when quizzed about the likelihood of the off-spinner featuring in the playing XI.

With seamers taking 19 of the 20 wickets at Lord’s (the other being a run-out), Ashwin’s case is probably weakest for the forthcoming Test. Adding to it is the nature of the pitch at Headingley. Since 2016, seamers at Headingley have taken a wicket every 45.8 balls, making it the most seamer-friendly track in the country.

But with the hosts more than likely to field three left-handers in the Top 7 - two in the top three with the inclusion of Malan - the prospect of Ashwin being drafted in cannot be ruled out. The question, though, is - who sits out?

Siraj has made himself undroppable with his eight-fer, as has Ishant, whose five breakthroughs played an integral part in the victory. Shami and Bumrah might be remembered for their heroics with the bat but the duo were unplayable on the final day, relentlessly probing the English batsmen. There is also the case to not rest any of the premier seamers for two reasons: all bowlers have had a week’s rest and a victory in the third Test will make India immune to a series defeat.

That realistically leaves Jadeja, who is yet to take a wicket this series, as the only option. Dropping the southpaw, however, would not just considerably weaken the visitors’ batting but also put pressure on the already-shaky middle-order, a scenario that is less than ideal. Notably, with 99 runs in 3 innings, Jadeja is India’s third highest run-getter in the series behind Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.

Thus, perhaps it might be prudent on India’s part to go in with an unchanged XI. As David Gower puts it, “Why try and fix something that’s not broken?”.

Probable XIs

India 

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

England

Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Craig Overton, Ollie Robinson, Saqib Mahmood, James Anderson