India Playing XI vs England: What Shubman Gill-led visitors' combination is likely to be for Lord's Test

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The third Test between India and England gets underway at Lord's from Thursday, 10 July with the Shubman Gill-led visitors having the momentum on their side after leveling the five-match series 1-1 with a dominant 336-run victory at Edgbaston. read more
India aren't likely to make too many changes to the combination that helped level the five-match series with a dominant 336-run victory at Edgbaston. Reuters
India and England are set to lock horns in the third of five Tests at the iconic Lord's, the venue that had recently hosted the ICC World Test Championship Final, a few hours from now. It's been a short turnaround for both teams, with the second Test at Edgbaston having concluded on Sunday.
Given how things unfolded there, with India dominating England throughout the game since they recovered from a wobbly 211/5 on the opening day, it would be safe to assume that the Shubman Gill-led visitors will be the more upbeat of the two teams at the 'Home of Cricket'.
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As is their wont, England announced their playing XI on the eve of the match, well before the toss, with senior pacer Jofra Archer set to make his first Test appearance in over four years after being drafted in place of Josh Tongue. Incidentally, it was against India – in February 2021 at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium – that Archer had made his last Test appearance.
But what of the Indian team? Are they likely to tinker with their combination, especially one that leveled the five-match series with a ruthless 336-run victory in Birmingham?
At least one change confirmed for Gill and Co
As things stand right now, India are set to make at least one change to their playing XI, with captain Gill having confirmed Jasprit Bumrah's participation in Lord's Test during the post-match presentation at Edgbaston. And given the circumstances as well as past history, that is likely to be India's only change for the third Test.
With Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj having collected the bulk of the 20 English wickets that fell in the second Test, it would make sense for Bumrah to replace Prasidh Krishna, who had been expensive at Headingley as well as Edgbaston.
The other areas of concern are Karun Nair at No 3 and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy at No 6. Nair has been getting off to promising starts so far this series, but hasn't been able to convert any of them, his highest being 31 at the batting paradise that was Edgbaston.
Reddy, meanwhile, hardly contributed with bat or with ball in the same match. The Andhra cricketer, however, is the better batter when compared with Shardul Thakur, the other seam-bowling all-rounder in the squad who was dropped after a poor show in Leeds.
With Bumrah, Siraj and Akash suddenly appearing a potent three-pronged pace attack, and Ravindra Jadeja among the more economical bowlers in the ongoing series, Team India will be better served with Reddy in their lineup than Thakur.
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Which also means left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav might have to ferry drinks for a while longer, since Sundar proved handy with the bat down the order at Edgbaston.
As for Nair, he is likely to get another shot at Lord's and might even be retained for the fourth Test at Old Trafford. However, while top-order batter B Sai Sudharsan, who was benched after making his Test debut at Headingley, has his entire career ahead of him, Nair might not get too many opportunities beyond the current series – his first for India in eight years.
India predicted playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
England playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir