International Test Cricket: England vs. India 8/25/21 3rd Test Cricket Prediction

India and England meet Wednesday August 25th, 2021 at 6:00am EST in a cricket match with the third test being played at Leeds.

If the last test match was a peek into how the remainder of the series will go then we will be in for many more treats. India and England put on a show for the ages with India coming from slightly behind to win by a huge margin of 151 runs. England will seek to change the way this series is currently going come Wednesday but they will have their work cut out for them against a dominant bowling side backed by an equally strong batting unit in India.

England MUST find competent enough batsmen to assist their captain and only batting anchor in Joe Root. Jonny Bairstow (57) and Rory Burns (49) accompanied Joe in the first innings as he re-established himself as one of the top 3 test batsmen currently, scoring an unbeaten 180 not out and no other batsman reached 30 as they made 391 at the first asking of batting. In the second innings, Root was once again asked to lead the troops, he scored 33 and once more, no other batsman scored over 30. Haseeb Hameed’s return to the test side was nothing of miserable as he was unable to trouble the scores in the first innings and struggled to make 9 in the second. On the bowling front, James Anderson was the pick of the bowlers taking a 5-wicket haul in the first innings which was ably assisted by Ollie Robinson with 4 overall and Mark Wood with 5 in both innings combined. The bowlers were consistent with their lines and lengths despite allowing a combine total of 662 runs, they will feel that against a batting side such as India’s that they did well but a lot of questions England’s batsmen will have to answer in order to level the series.

India’s batting acumen is one that deserves high praise due to the fact that they have so many match winners from top to bottom. Their first innings saw Rohit Sharma score a dominant 83 before his departure, KL Rahul who was the man of the match scored a well compiled 129 along with Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja with 37 and 40 respectively. Captain Virat Kohli hasn’t been in the best of forms, scoring 62 runs across his two innings, he would know he needs to step up more, revert to his was of old. Mohammed Shami (56) not out and Jasprit Bumrah (34) not out placed India in a commanding position after Rahane (61) and Pujara (45) steered the ship in the earlier half of the second innings. From a bowling perspective the Indian bowlers seemed to be cut from a different cloth, every plan they orchestrated worked basically perfectly from Ishant Sharma who took 6 in the game, Mohammed Siraj with 8, Mohammed Shami who took 3 in the game to go with batting display, to the other complementary pieces that elevated India to win when all odds were against them. India will be growing in confidence behind their inspirational leader Virat Kohli, resting on the laurels is not an option.

A battle of the heavyweight cricket titans continues and this third test match will be nothing short of thrilling. England have the capability to win comprehensively and level this series but I have India to take the 2-0 lead based on their bowling superiority and then being a more established, well-balanced batting side. These two teams are very evenly matched and it usually is very close whenever they do battle, but I am going with the team with the confidence and momentum and that is India.