The four match test series between India and England are currently tied at 1-1. England won the first test match and India bounced right back to win the second test match, both of which were held in Chennai.
After England’s loss in the second test, former England test captain Michael Vaughn was very critical of the Chennai pitch, claiming it was unfit for test cricket. Vaughn had to eat his words when Ravichandran Ashwin who ended up making a century in the second innings, to show that you can score runs if you apply yourself as a batsman.
* Odds have been provided by Bet365 and are accurate as of 22/02/2021
The third test will start on Feb 24 and India enters as the betting favourites with odds of 8/15 while England have odds of 3/1. The weather is expected to be hot and humid and rain will not be a factor. The odds for the test ending up in a draw are currently at 5/1.
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Cricbuzz
The big talking point leading into the third test in Ahmedabad is the pitch yet again. This will be a D/N test match where a pink ball will be used. The pink ball tends to do a lot under lights and there are different opinions as to whether the pitch will offer assistance to the spinners from Day 1 or will it also offer assistance to the fast bowlers.
We will have to wait till the toss to see what the curators have done in terms of the pitch. One thing remains clear is that the side that wins the toss will elect to bat first. Given India’s dominance in the second test, expect the pitch to favour the spinners. So the toss will once again play a crucial role but will likely not be the main match deciding factor.
England had two major opportunities to win in India against India. The first opportunity was for England to catch India off-guard in the first test and win – they did just that. The second opportunity is to take advantage of the D/N test and utilize the pink ball to their advantage by unleashing the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
We will have to wait and see if England can bounce back after their huge defeat in the second test. However, we would play it safe and put our money on India to win.
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