India v England 3rd Test at Edgbaston Preview and Highlights

It is the third Test match of the series to be played at Edgbaston at Birmingham and if the newspapers are to be believed, the Indians will have it tough against England on a green, swinging pitch. Especially given that they are down 0-2 and are on the verge of losing their number one ranking in the Test match world.It will be difficult for the Indians to mount a comeback, especially in the absence of Zaheer Khan. Zaheer Khan, who played a part in exactly half a day’s effort on the tour before injuries got the better of him, will be sorely missed by a bowling attack which is also without Harbhajan Singh. In the absence of the two stalwarts, India will be going into the game with Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, S Sreesanth and Amit Mishra – shorn of experience in short.
There is good news from the batting quarters. Virender Sehwag will open the innings for the Indians and while one has to agree with the likes of Andrew Strauss and Ian Botham that it wouldn’t be easy for him straightaway, the Indians will feel a lot more comfortable than when they had Abhinav Mukund. Incidentally, despite the century he scored in the warm-up game against Northampton, he will be replaced by the now-fit Gautam Gambhir at the top of the innings.
Rahul Dravid, freshly out of his surprise at being picked up for the ODIs and having then announced his retirement from the 50-overs format of the game, will be the key though. He will need to bat through the innings and if he can have someone like Sehwag at the other end, going full guns, it will help the side.
The pitch at Birmingham is said to be rather grassy and it is no surprise that is the case. The Indians have generally struggled against the swinging ball and with an inexperienced bowling attack like the one that India has, England can take a chance with such a surface. The grass may be shaved off but enough will be kept on it to allow the bowlers to run hell.
England will go in without Chris Tremlett again, which strengthens their batting as Tim Bresnan comes in at the number eight position while Stuart Broad bats nine. Jonathon Trott, who also misses out due to his injury will be replaced by Ravi Bopara, which should allow Ian Bell to bat at the number three position – where he had scored a century in the previous Test match.
England will be favourites to seal the series here, while India will need to go hard at the opposition. On such a pitch, a result is a certainty and there will be no hiding for the Indians behind a drawn game.
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