England vs India, 3rd Test Probable Playing XI: Will Ashwin Play?

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IND v ENG 2021: India will take on England in the 3rd test at Headingley, Leeds on Wednesday. The visitors defeated the hosts in the 2nd test by 151 runs and took a 1-0 lead in the five-match test series. 

England batters will be coming into this match with a bit of pressure after the last game's beating on day 5. Apart from Joe Root, no other batter has got runs. With two changes in the squad, Haseeb Hameed is likely to open with Rory Burns while Dawid Malan will play at the number three position followed by Root. The rest of the batting may not change in this game. 

Mark Wood's injury means Saqib Mahmood will be in line for his test debut. Given ordinary returns from Sam Curran, England could try Craig Overton as an all-rounder coming in at number 8. 

Indian batting doesn't have much problem till number 6. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have given good starts to the team while Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane got few runs under their belt in the last match and will take that confidence into this game. Virat Kohli has got starts and will be looking to convert one into a big score. 

Ravindra Jadeja has done decently with the bat, however, given that England is likely to play at least four batters, R Ashwin could come in to replace him. There is also a possibility of India playing both Ashwin and Jadeja since Headingley suits the spinners well. Considering the Leeds weather to be clear throughout the five days, the pitch is expected to dry out. 

If India does play both the spinners, then Ishant Sharma is likely to sit out amongst the pacers. With Shardul Thakur declared fit to play, India will look into fitting him in the playing XI for him being a swing bowler and a decent batter. 

England Probable Playing XI - Haseeb Hameed, Rory Burns, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Craig Overton/Saqib Mahmood, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson

India Probable Playing XI - Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja/ R Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma/ Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj