No changes in the batting order and inclusion of Ashwin and Thakur might able to do some damage control because our middle order is not in great form and Pant is looking dim too.
I guess that India must need to look at Rahane and may play Vihari or Surya Kumar in that place. Pant may get another chance as he is alright with wicket keeping job hence if he fires up then that might be some extra runs for India otherwise lower orders may need to take care of that.
Jaddu, Ashwin, Thakur batting at number 7,8,9 looks okay.
I remember India played 2 spinners for the final of world test championship but that did not work for them. Hence, I doubt Kohli may go for that again for English conditions.
I don't have any problem with Vihari but i doubt if Virat is ready to leave his deputy atm and if we look at the last 2 years numbers Rahane looked better batman when comparing to Kohli.
On WTC, i think Kohli made a tactical error. It was raining for day or 2 and condition were suitable for the pacers but he decided not to go with 4 seamers.
Jaddu, Ashwin, Thakur batting at number 7,8,9 looks okay.
OK with the first two. But I am not in favor of Shardul. He seems to be the worst performing bowler among the available options. And IMO, Shardul can't be considered as an allrounder yet, as he is very inconsistent with bat. Adding him in to the playing XI (by replacing either Ishant Sharma or Mohammed Siraj) would considerably weaken the bowling attack. India needs their best pace bowlers to trouble the England batsmen (especially if they are planning to go with three pacers and two spinners for the fourth test match).
Don't want to repeat myself on Shardul Thakur so adding my previous comment and his stats (Check the bowling average and SR). I do agree that calling him all-rounder is not right but IMO it would be dumb thing to think that number 8 should average 40+ etc.
His batting skills are not bad, but he can't be considered as an allrounder. And at this point, I would prefer to go with the best bowlers available. Keeping an experienced pacer like Ishant out, because Shardul is a better batsman doesn't make any sense. Shardul has been given enough chances and he has failed to impress with the ball. And regarding Ashwin, I would prefer to include him in the playing XI. He adds variety to the bowling attack, and England batsmen have historically fared poorly against spin.
Lol Enough chances??
Don't know what are you talking about. So far Shardul featured in 3 test match and in his debut match back in 2018, he got injured after bowling 1-ish overs so technically he has played only 2 test match. 11 wickets + 73 runs in 2 game doesn't look bad when you're batting at number 8 and how can you forget his important role in 120 +runs partnership with Sunder in Gabba where he contributed 67 runs.
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