India vs England: Testing time for home team's middle-order

Rajkot: The Indian team is in a state of flux. The England team is the flux.

What that means in the context of the cricket to be played over the course of the next five (hopefully) days leaves plenty of room for interpretation, but it will be a fun ride nevertheless. That’s hardly up for debate when it comes to this Indian side and this English outfit. 

With a dynamism so conflicting, thereby engrossing, the two sides will try and establish a foothold when the third Test gets underway at the newly-christened Niranjan Shah stadium in Rajkot from Thursday.

By virtue of it being India in India, the natural tendency would be to anoint them with a significantly higher chance of winning and going 2-1 up in the series. 

Remember what happened in the first Test when England’s novel, no-holds-barred approach won the match?

India did level it in the second Test quite convincingly, but lest we forget all the regulars who aren’t available for this contest, and possibly the ones to follow. 

Rohit Sharma comes into this game without the services of an injured KL Rahul, an out-of-form Shreyas Iyer and a non-available Virat Kohli. Besides being some of the biggest names in Indian cricket, they also forge the spine of the Indian middle-order. 

Such is the weight of their absence that chief selector Ajit Agarkar was forced to fly out to find replacements. He pulled Devdutt Padikkal out of his Ranji Trophy services for Karnataka and installed him in the squad. 

Although the Karnataka cricketer is unlikely to make his debut in this game, there’s always a chance he might get a look-in in the Tests to come. 

As far as this game is concerned, India are going to give Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel their caps. 

While 23-year-old Jurel’s rise has been swift, Sarfaraz’s has been benched on the other side. 

Disciplinary issues, weight concerns be damned, Sarfaraz has scored close to 1000 runs in each of his last three domestic seasons. Obviously, they couldn’t have kept someone out for long when they average over 100 in their last three seasons. 

Because the middle-order has opened up, Sarfaraz’s penchant for scoring frequently and scoring big was noticed with more eagerness. At 25, Sarafaz has time on his hands, but his 161 for India A against England in Ahmedabad was good enough for the selectors to accept his form and consistency with more immediacy. 

The rest of the team writes itself with Rohit and Shubman Gill at the top, Yashasvi Jaisal and Raja Patidar at No.3 and No.4, followed by Sarfaraz, Ravindra Jadeja and Jurel. 

As for the bowlers, R Ashwin, who is one wicket away from his 500th scalp, is a shoo-in, while Kuldeep Yadav is likely to resume his role. That said Axar Patel can’t be ruled out entirely because of his knowledge and success in this part of the world.   

The only minor doubt at this moment is regarding Jasprit Bumrah's availability. Sources revealed that the Indian pacer hasn’t yet checked into the team hotel as of Wednesday afternoon when he was in fact supposed to be at the venue on Tuesday.

A lot is up in the air at the moment, but one should spare a thought about the pitch too, and this one is as interesting as they come. It's sparsely green and wears a chalky look to it. 

Jadeja reckoned it would play well to begin with and then deteriorate fairly quickly, but the patch had even India coach Rahul Dravid scratching his head on the eve. When he wasn’t staring at the surface, he was spending time with the curators to get a read. 

It wasn’t easy, but India have spoken about ignoring conditions and oppositions and still winning. This is yet another chance for them to back their ideology. Just as it is for England to back theirs.

Playing XI: India (likely): Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Yashavi Jaiswal, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav.  

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (capt), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Mark Wood, James Anderson.