Stakes will be incredibly high when India and England cross swords in the third Test at the newly-inaugurated Motera Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad. The encounter, which will be a Day-Night Test match, gets underway on Thursday (February 24). With the series perfectly poised at 1-1, the winner of the this clash will take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series. However, the scenario is a bit different from the ICC World Test Championship final point of view. As England have to win the series at least by 3-1 to make it to the summit clash, they require nothing less than a win to stay in the race. India vs England 3rd Test 2021: Date, Time, Venue and Everything You Need To Know About the Day-Night Match.

On the other hand, the home team needs at least a draw and a win from the remaining two Tests to join New Zealand in the ultimate encounter at Lord’s. Hence, they also can’t afford to lose the match. As this will be the first international game at the new Motera Stadium, both sides would be unaware of the conditions. Moreover, tackling the pink cherry under the floodlights will be a different challenge. Hence, both teams should take the field with their best playing XI. As the much-awaited at World’s largest cricket stadium takes a countdown, let’s look at India’s predicted playing XI. India vs England 2021: World’s Largest Cricket Stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad Gears Up To Welcome Cricket Fans.

Openers: Rohit Sharma regained his lost form back in the last game with a blazing 161-run knock on a spin-friendly track. He’ll be expected to handle the Pink-ball challenge with precision as well. Shubman Gill will continue to partner Hitman at the opening slot. Although the youngster couldn’t impact the last game, his performances in previous games should save him from getting dropped.

Middle-Order: India’s middle-order is all sorted with Cheteshwar Pujara, skipper Virat Kohli and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane occupying the third, fourth and fifth position in the line-up. Although these talismans have crossed the 50-run mark this series, they are yet to score a century and what can be a better occasion than a Pink-Ball Test at World’s largest cricket stadium.

 Wicket-Keeper: Rishabh Pant has been sensational with both bat and gloves this series, and there’s no reason for leaving him out in the crucial game. While he scored two blazing half-centuries in previous games, his wicket-keeping in the last match left fans in awe. Hence, Wriddhiman Saha will continue to warm the benches.

All-Rounders: Ravichandran Ashwin tormented England with both bat and ball in the last game and would like to put up a similar show in Ahmedabad. He will be partnered by Axar Patel, who took a five-wicket haul on debut. Although the Indian spin twins are in sensational form, the pink cherry isn’t known to favour the slow bowlers, and it will be interesting to see how Patel and Ashwin will tackle the challenge.

Bowlers: With the pink ball known to favour the pacers more, Kuldeep Yadav is set to be dropped for this game. The left-arm spinner had a decent outing in the second Test, where he scalped two wickets. However, picking three spinners for the Day-Night match would not be wise. Hence, star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is set to take his place and join Ishant Sharma. The team management would have to make a toss-up between Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav for the third pacer’s slot. While Siraj scalped only one wicket in the second, Yadav, who took a five-wicket haul in India’s first Day-Night Test against Bangladesh, is returning from injury.

India’s Probable XI For 3rd Test Against England: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj/ Umesh Yadav.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 19, 2021 02:31 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).