(Cricket news) The 3rd Test match between India and England is about to start at Headingley cricket ground in Leeds. The news from the center is that India has won the toss and elected to bat first.
Playing XI
England: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, David Malan, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Craig Overton, James Anderson.
England have made 2 changes with Craig Overton preferred over Saqib Mahmood to replace the injured Mark Wood. Dom Sibley is replaced by David Malan with Haseeb Hameed moving up to a familiar opening spot
India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
India go unchanged which means that Shardul Thakur and Ravichandran Ashwin miss out. Ashwin's omission is once again a surprising one but Kohli is persistent with the 4 seamers in England policy.
Also read: India looking to double series lead against depleted England in the 3rd Test at Headingley, Leeds
Whether report
The weather forecast is very positive for the 5 days with no showers predicted. The conditions will be sunny with a possibility of a heat wave which will assist the spinners. Which is why it is surprising that India haven't picked Ravichandran Ashwin
Pitch report
The wicket doesn't have much grass on it and looks pretty firm. The spinners should get assistance on the later days more than the last 2 pitches at least. Joe Root didn't look too disappointed to bowl first which may be an indication that the England camp doesn't think that the pitch will change much.
