India created history at Lord's by winning the test match after 28 years there. Rahane, Bhuvi (for his bowling performance) & Ishant Sharma made into the honors board at Lord's. Dhoni is the second Indian captain who has won the test match at Lord's. These are the facts related to that match. Now let's keep the facts aside & think of the moment, which shifted the course of the match & that moment was 99-run partnership between Jadeja & Bhuvi on 4th day of the match. I don't think India would have won the match if that partnership was about 25-30 runs. Now India is 1-0 up in the series & we are approaching third test match of the series.
Jadeja-Anderson spat hearing has been put off to 1st august to give verdict on Anderson. The verdict on Jadeja is out & he has to pay 50% of match fees to ICC. Moreover English players are saying that 'Jadeja raised the bat dangerously' & 'Jadeja pushed Anderson first'. The players who pee on the pitch after the match, you can envisage how much truth they can speak. In all, this will push Jadeja up & will bring out the best of Jadeja in the 3rd test match.
Today the third test is at Southhampton where the pitch is a mystery, but India is high on confidence. For India, Vijay, Pujara, Rahane & Jadeja are in pretty good touch with the bat. For the first time an Indian bowler has troubled English batsmen with the bouncer. Ishant Sharma was exceptional in the second innings at Lord's so he holds the momentum with him. Shami is also going well with the ball & Jadeja is playing the role of spinner perfectly. So hopefully they will carry on with it in the third test as well.
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar has been the highlight of the series for India so far. He has got three 50s batting at no. 9. In addition to that he has taken 5-wicket hauls in both the tests. He has shown the signs of a fast bowling all-rounder which is really rare in India. Hence there are lots of expectations from Kumar now. Dhawan's every bad innings is appealing to bring Gambhir in the side. I think the experience of Gambhir will balance the Indian side. In addition to Dhawan, Kohli's form is also a worry for India. Kohli is not finding that groove in England. I think Dhoni will lead with the same side in third test as well as he doesn't believe in making changes. So expect the form of Dhawan & Kohli India is pretty confident & side in the form.
England is in all kinds of trouble here. Cook hasn't found his course yet, Robson is struggling & Bell is also not among the runs. Prior has been replaced by Butler. Moeen Ali is not being able to convert the starts into big ones. But players in form for England are Root, Balance, Anderson & Broad. Root & Balance are doing their job perfectly with the bat. On the other hand Broad & Anderson is in their best form with the ball, but they are contributing with the bat as well. One more player who has shown the signs of form with both bat & ball is Plunkett. One thing in this series will always favor England is that they are playing on their home turf. This advantage will always bring England on the equal ground with India.
Now in the third test, I can suppose that England will go in as 5-men squad against India's 9-men squad. I guess the third test is going to be the series decider as not much time will be there after that to bounce back. So both the teams will be ready to fight hard & both teams will try their best to come out as winner.
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