Follow UsIndia made a terrific comeback in the five-match Test series against England, with a historic victory in Birmingham levelling the series 1-1 at the end of the first two Tests.
The caravan moves to the most iconic cricket stadiums in the world as Lord’s is set to host the third Test match. Both India and England will have a couple of changes with major pacers like Jasprit Bumrah, Jofra Archer, and Gus Atkinson all expected to make it to the playing 11 for this crucial encounter.
Like other English venues, Lord’s too favours teams batting second, with five of the nine games in recent times won by teams chasing. The most recent match hosted at Lord’s was the WTC Final between South Africa and Australia, where South Africa opted to bowl. Expect both Shubman Gill and Ben Stokes to choose to field if the coin falls in their favour.
England, the hosts, have not had a good record at Lord’s post-pandemic as they have won four and lost four games respectively in their eight games.
One of those defeats was against India, back in 2021. With them losing the Birmingham Test and having lost to India in the previous instance at Lord’s, expect England to be under pressure coming into this game.
Lord’s has been a great venue for India in recent times. In the last three Tests at this venue, India have won two of them convincingly. The last time they played here was the iconic “60 overs of hell”, where team India dismantled the England batters and made a massive statement.
Coming to this Test, India will be very confident after breaking an age-old drought in Birmingham, where they won for the first time in their Test history.
Pacers have had a terrific record at Lord’s since 2021.
So much so, it is the best venue for pacers in the last four years, where they have taken 264 wickets at an average of 26.2. With Bumrah, Archer and Atkinson back, expect some real 'Sweet Chin' music for the batters.
On day one, as numbers indicate, however, pacers and spinners have a similar impact.
In the remaining four days, the pacers have dominated, averaging below 25 and taking more than 90% of the wickets. The average of 22 and 22.7 on days 4 & 5 shows that pacers are the ones who need to close the game.
Only three Indian batters have any record at Lord’s, with KL Rahul smashing a century in 2021. Ravindra Jadeja too has a fifty at this venue. But Rishabh Pant, who has been outstanding in this series, is yet to perform at Lord’s, and could change at any time.
Among the England batters, Joe Root is the greatest batter at this venue. In his limited appearances, Ben Duckett has done well at the venue, averaging 71.7 in seven innings. Zak Crawley and Harry Brook will be expected to better their record.
Mohammed Siraj was the primary pacer at Lord’s the last time in 2021 as he took four wicket hauls in both innings of the Test. Jasprit Bumrah has not made much of an impact. Ravindra Jadeja has been miser in giving runs with 1.9 economy.
On the other hand, Chris Woakes is the best bowler at Lord’s all time as the swing specialist averages 12.9, taking three five-wicket hauls. Gus Atkinson, who debuted at Lord’s last year, has taken three five-wicket hauls in four innings. Jofra Archer made his epic Test debut at Lord’s in 2019, where short balls to Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were seen from all corners of the world.
So, expect something similar in this Test as well, as both teams will be eager to show off their pace-bowling stocks, with the series tied apiece at 1-1.