The series is currently levelled at 1-1. England won the first Test at Headingley by five wickets, chasing 371 runs on the final day. India bounced back in style at Edgbaston, hammering a hapless England by 337 runs.
England have made one change to their playing XI, bringing in speedster Jofra Archer, who is making his comeback to Test cricket after a four-year gap. Meanwhile, India welcome back their World No. 1 fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the second Test due to workload management.
The pitch at Lord’s is expected to be a green top. After the loss at Edgbaston, England coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes had attributed their defeat to a surface they described as “subcontinent-like,” suggesting it favoured the Indian pacers. But on a livelier Lord’s wicket — and with Bumrah back — India’s pace attack could be just as lethal.
Playing XIs
India (Predicted) XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
England XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir.
