Toss: England v India – 3rd Test
First Published : 10 Aug 2011, 20:58
Last Modified : 10 Aug 2011, 20:58
Edgbaston, August 10: India get set to defend their No. 1 Test spot as they take on England in the third match of the four-Test series. India have been hampered by a spate of injuries to some of their key players. At the same time, the return of the mercurial Virender Sewhag might just bring about a change in the visitors’ fortunes given that they are trailing England 0-2.
Andrew Strauss opted to bowl first on a pitch marked by damp with cracks on it; India captain Dhoni too said he would have opted to bowl first to take advantage of the conditions. Ravi Bopara comes into the England playing eleven for the injured Jonathan Trott. Virender Sehwag and Amit Mishra, meanwhile, replace Abhinav Mukund and Harbhajan Singh in the Indian playing eleven.
Captain speak:
Andrew Strauss (England):
On the decision to bowl first: “It wasn’t an entirely straightforward one. But we think there’s enough [in the conditions] to justify bowling first.”
On their standing in the series: “We fought hard to win those two games against a good side.”
MS Dhoni (India):
On what would he have done had he won the toss: “I would have bowled as well. If you look at the conditions, it’s overcast and cold. The first hour will be crucial.”
On the pressure of going into the game after two losses: “We’re used to playing under pressure in India and abroad. That’s where the experience will come into play.”
On Sehwag’s return:“He does have some IPL cricket behind him. He just has to come out here and play his natural game.”
Playing XIs:
India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar, and Amit Mishra
England:Andrew Strauss (c), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Graeme Swann and James Anderson
