India vs England | Predicted XI for the third ODI in Headingley, Leeds

07/17/2018

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The two current ODI giants in world cricket lived up to the billing in the vast match and here we find ourselves at yet another series decider. Leeds will host the last limited-overs game of the tour as the hosts will try to make amends for the T20 series loss to the Indian team earlier in the tour.

After five consecutive dry match days, Leeds is finally expected to bring the gloomy UK weather to show. It is expected to be partly cloudy skies and even thunderstorms may happen in the later phase of the day, with the temperatures hovering around 20 degrees during the game.

Openers:

Shikhar Dhawan: There is an eerily similar emotive experience for all Virender Sehwag fans while watching Gabbar go about his business in this tour. Just like the mega superstar of the yore, the man from the same town, Dhawan, has been getting explosive starts and then throwing it like anything with some careless strokes. Considering the fragile nature of Indian middle-order, it is almost a dire need for the team that Dhawan doesn’t throw away his wicket in the fashion that he did in the first two matches.

Rohit Sharma: A flawless century at Trent Bridge and then a sluggish 15 runs off 26 balls. Sure, Rohit Sharma is more capable of what we saw in Lord’s. Once the ball is in his range, expect him to feast on that.

Middle-order:

Virat Kohli: The last time India chased down a 150-plus ODI target without one of the top three batsmen scoring a half-century or more was against Zimbabwe in the 2015 World Cup. It was quite a long time. While it is unfair to expect the skipper to score every day, it is almost a given that he has to shoulder the responsibility if India harbour any hopes of winning the series.

KL Rahul: For all the talks of talent and amazing form in the IPL, KL Rahul will have to prove that he is a worthy contender for the Indian musical chair spot of No. 4 position. Considering getting an opening slot is not an option, he will have to adapt to the position and give a score of some significance. Remember, Dinesh Karthik and Shreyas Iyer are waiting on the bench and screaming for a slot.

Suresh Raina: Although Suresh Raina managed to be the highest run-scorer for India in the second ODI, his age-old nemesis, the short ball, has started making him uncomfortable again. Even when the ball was pitched up, his footwork lacked any sort of conviction. If he doesn’t shed this patchy performance, his return to the ODI squad after nearly three years is not going to last too long.

MS Dhoni (wk): On a day when Dhoni joined an esteemed list that also included the Indians - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid - for scoring 10,000 ODI runs, in an unprecedented sort of events, he got booed by the predominantly India-supporting crowd for his bizarre innings. He is a big advocate of taking a chase to the deep end, but in the last game, it was as absurd an innings as it could get. He needs to come out of the shell, once and for all.

All-rounder:

Hardik Pandya: No doubt, the Baroda all-rounder is an important member of the Indian team, but that shouldn’t come on the way of his improvement. The heavily inconsistent nature of Pandya has been a sign of worry for India going forward and given the fact that he is the only decent pace-bowling all-rounder in the team, he has to pull up his socks.

Spinners:

Kuldeep Yadav: Once again, pretty much like the T20I series, England have come back from being befuddled by Kuldeep Yadav to level things up. The onus is on the wrist-spinner to come up with new plans and not letting the Englishmen get an idea of his mystery. On the records front, the UP boy needs two wickets to reach the 50-wicket milestone in ODIs and if he gets them today at Headingley, he will equal Ajit Agarkar as the fastest for India.

The duo is going to be all the more important for India © BCCI

Yuzvendra Chahal: The RCB spinner is mostly playing the second fiddle to his partner, and while Kuldeep is going for the attack, Chahal is holding back to restrict the run-flow. While that is a viable tactic, he also needs to make sure that he is among the wicket-takers, which will ease the pressure off Kuldeep’s shoulders.

Pacers:

Umesh Yadav: After each and every ODI that Umesh Yadav plays, Indian fans miss Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar more and more. He was terrible with the ball is an understatement. For a player, who has the international experience of eight years and being entrusted with the responsibility of leading a young group of bowlers, Umesh Yadav has been a major disappointment in the series. However, the lack of good choice means he will be getting another go at Headingley.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar: In the pre-match press conference, India’s assistant coach Sanjay Bangar revealed that Bhuvneshwar Kumar has a very good chance to play provided he passes the fitness test. While he didn’t bowl on the eve of the first two matches, he bowled with full intensity in the nets yesterday and if he gets a go-ahead, it means Siddarth Kaul will be on the bench.

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