Who will win England vs India (3rd Test)?
England and India continue their late-summer test series as they head to Nottingham, to Trent Bridge, for the third match in the five-test series. The five-day match is unusually scheduled to start on Saturday August 18 at 11:00 local time.
England vs India (3rd Test): Where to watch/Live streaming
TV channels: Sky Sports, Sony Six, Sony Ten 3, SuperSport, Fox Sports, Willow TV
Live streaming: NOW TV, SkyGo, SonyLiv
Toss Prediction
Conditions changed dramatically on the eve of the Lord's test and played right into England's hands. More overcast conditions and a favourable pitch could see them opt to bowl first again.
Read on for England vs India test prediction, team previews, betting tips and latest odds.
England Team News & Playing 11
ENG Team News
England's selectors have a big decision to make this week, after welcoming Ben Stokes back to the fold after he was found not guilty of affray during his high-profile trial at Bristol Crown Court. Stokes bowled England to victory in the first match, but Chris Woakes - his replacement at Lord's - was man of the match after scoring his maiden first-class century. Ollie Pope, who made his debut at Lord's, and Sam Curran are other options to make way for Stokes, or even opener Keaton Jennings, but England might choose not to change a winning team.
ENG Key Players
James Anderson claimed nine wickets in the match at Lord's last time out, to pass 100 wickets at the home of cricket. Ominously for India, he also boasts a superb record at Trent Bridge, where he has claimed 60 wickets in nine matches at an average of 18.95. He has twice claimed ten in a match in Nottingham.
Stuart Broad will be bowling on his home ground, meanwhile, having taken 33 wickets in his last ten test matches. His 4-44 in the second innings at Lord's included the scalps of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik.
With the bat, Jonny Bairstow continued his fine form with 93 in the second test - he has scored 657 runs in his last ten matches. That figure is only bettered by captain Joe Root who, though he only scored 19 at Lord's, has hit 684 in his last ten tests.
All-rounder Chris Woakes marked his return to the team with a man-of-the-match performance, meanwhile. He scored 137* with the bat - including a 189-run partnership with Bairstow - as he recorded his maiden test century. With the ball, he weighed in with two wickets in each innings, including Kohli in the first.
ENG Team Form
After a poor run of form in test matches, England have now won their last three. The two wins against India so far - the pulsating 31-run victory at Edgbaston and the innings thrashing at Lord's - followed an innings victory against Pakistan to draw that series 1-1.
Prior to that, however, England lost by nine wickets in the first test against Pakistan and lost their two away series over the winter too. They were bowled out for 58 in the first innings of their series against New Zealand on their way to a 1-0 defeat, on the back of a 4-0 thrashing in the Ashes.
England Predicted Playing 11
Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, Adil Rashid, James Anderson
India Team News & Playing 11
IND Team News
The gamble on Kuldeep Yadav did not pay off in the second test, as he went wicketless in nine overs when the dry, dusty wicket expected at Lord's did not materialise - the rain arriving just in time to change the pitch to more helpful English conditions. Yadav seems unlikely to play the third test, with namesake Umesh Yadav among the options to bring back in. Hardik Pandya, who went wicketless at Edgbaston, bowled himself back into form at Lord's - his 3-66 a rare highlight in a disappointing game for India. Cheteshwar Pujara returned for the second test too, in place of Shikhar Dhawan, but he is more likely to retain his place.
IND Key Players
After scoring 40 runs in the match at Lord's, Virat Kohli dropped back to second in the world test rankings but he is clearly India's danger man. He scored 200 runs at Edgbaston, including 149 in the first innings - his 22nd test hundred. He averages 54.28 in his test career, but in his last nine matches that rises to 78.53.
No other Indian batsman has managed to cope with the English conditions, however, with Ravinchandran Ashwin actually their top scorer in both innings at Lord's, scoring 29 and 33 not out.
Ashwin has been their star man with the ball too, though he went wicketless at Lord's. He picked up seven wickets in the first test, however, and has taken 37 in his last nine games. Mohammed Shami, who took 3-96 at Lord's, now also has 37 in his last nine games.
IND Team Form
India had won their last two test matches prior to the series against England, thrashing debutants Afghanistan in a one-off test - scoring 474 and then bowling the newcomers out for 109 and 103 - on the back of a 63-run win in their final test against South Africa.
Poor second innings batting had already cost them in that series against South Africa, however, as they slipped to a 2-1 series defeat. Prior to that, they won one and drew two of their three test matches against Sri Lanka.They are now heading for a second consecutive series defeat against a major test opposition, however, having lost the first test at Edgbaston by 31 runs despite 200 runs in the match for Virat Kohli, before their crushing innings-and-159-runs defeat at Lord's last time out as they failed to cope with the English conditions.
India Predicted Playing 11
Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dinesh Karthik, Hardik Pandya, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav
Aug 18 - Aug 22, 2018
15:30 IST / 10:00 GMT
Trent Bridge - Nottingham, England
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