India vs England 3rd Test Predicted Playing 11, Players List: Ishant Sharma joining Kapil as the second Indian pacer to play 100 Tests will add to the momentous occasion as the India vs England 3rd Test begins at the refurbished Sardar Patel Stadium and Virat Kohli scoring a hundred is just what the 55,000 odd spectators, who would be allowed in, might crave for.

There are many unknown variables that warrant factoring and the two teams would like to assess conditions in the Pink ball Test. Senior speedster Ishant said on Monday. “…this test pink ball test match test we are playing in new ground, so for even for us there are a few things we don’t know how we will have to tackle (and) all these things,” Ishant said on the eve of his 100th Test match.

His opposite number James Anderson however has no doubts whatsoever that by the time clock ticks 2:30 pm on Wednesday, the track will bear a bald look, similar to Chepauk.

Umesh Yadav passing the fitness test was good news for the Indian camp as Kuldeep Yadav is likely to be dropped from the playing XI. Umesh, along with Ishant and the now injured Mohammed Shami, had polished off Bangladesh twice inside six sessions in the inaugural Pink Test match in Kolkata. But this England team, with Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, will pose a far greater challenge.

#INDvENG #MoteraTestMatch #PinkBallTest

How would the twilight period be? Will the extra lacquer on the ‘SG Test Pink’ make it difficult for the Ashwin-Axar combo? And with a 2:30 pm start, how much will the dew have a bearing during the final session?https://t.co/ZZVrec6WT4

— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) February 23, 2021

Hardik Pandya has been kept with the Test team with an eye on his bowling workload but it’s not known whether the team thinks that he is Test match ready.

For England, with Moeen Ali back home as part of workload management, Dom Bess is expected to be back alongside Jack Leach in the spin department. However, whether Anderson and Jofra Archer will have Stuart Broad or Mark Wood for company is still not clear. Also, talented batsman Zak Crawley could be back in the playing XI in place of Rory Burns while Jonny Bairstow can replace Dan Lawrence at number three.

Predicted XIs

India: Gill, Rohit, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, Pant, Ashwin, Axar, Ishant, Siraj, Bumrah

England: Sibley, Crawley, Bairstow, Root, Stokes, Pope, Foakes, Bess, Anderson, Archer, Leach

The Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Md. Siraj, Umesh Yadav.

England: Joe Root (c), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.