England vs India 2018, 3rd Test: India's Predicted XI

The Indian cricket team were humiliated by hosts England in the second Test of the five-match series held at Lords. Despite the first day of play being completely washed out, the match was completed on the fourth day, with England winning the match by an innings and 159 runs.

None of the Indian batsmen managed to score a half-century. Ravichandran Ashwin was the highest scorer of the side, with 62 runs to his name in the entire match.

Neither the bowlers nor the batsmen performed well as England dominated from start to finish. With the third Test coming up at Trent Bridge in a few days, India will have to go back to the drawing board and look at how to improve their situation.

We could surely expect a few changes in the final playing XI. So, let's take a look at the predicted playing XI for India in the third Test.

Openers:

KL Rahul

The 26-year-old from Karnataka has not been able to find his feet in the series so far. In three out of the four innings, he played a couple of good shots before getting dismissed.

However, he should keep his place in the side for now as Murali Vijay has had a completely horrid time with the bat so far.

If he does not perform well in the upcoming Test, we could probably expect to see him out of the side for the final two Tests.

Shikhar Dhawan

The enigmatic left-hander got off to a decent start in the first Test he played, however, he was dismissed in disappointing fashion in both innings.

With Vijay out of form, we could surely expect to see him back at the top. He will continue to play his natural game and look to attack the bowlers from the beginning.

Middle-order

Cheteshwar Pujara

It was extremely surprising to see Pujara miss out on the playing XI for the first Test, given his form for India at the number three spot in the recent past.

He was brought back for the 2nd Test and was run-out in unfortunate fashion in the first innings. He played an extremely patient knock in the second innings but was dismissed by a beauty of a delivery by Stuart Broad.

Virat Kohli

The Indian captain has been the best batsman of the side in the series so far and the only one to cross 200 runs. However, he, too, would be disappointed with his performance in the 2nd Test, scoring just 40 runs.

He will look to get back to his ominous best and get a couple of big knocks under his belt in the third Test and lead his side to victory.

Ajinkya Rahane

Rahane was supposed to be India's best performer in overseas conditions but has been extremely disappointing so far.

He will have to pull up his socks in the upcoming Test in order to retain his place in the side for the final two Tests.

Rishabh Pant

With Dinesh Karthik managing just 20 runs in four innings with three ducks to his name, we could surely expect the young Rishabh Pant to make his debut in the third Test.

He performed well in the warm-up match and will hope to give India some quick runs in the middle-order. It will be interesting to see how he takes on the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Sam Curran.

Hardik Pandya

A lot of people have questioned Hardik Pandya's place in the side for the Tests, however, he has proven them wrong with a few noteworthy performances.

He has provided a few valuable runs in the middle order and picked up a few wickets with the ball, thus causing the English batsmen some problems.

He will hope to improve on his performances with the bat and look to get a half-century in the next match.

Ravichandran Ashwin

After picking up seven wickets in the first Test, it was surprising to see Ravichandran Ashwin introduced so late into the attack in the second Test.

However, despite not picking up a wicket, he made up for it with the bat, being India's highest run-scorer with 62 runs to his name.

He has surely silenced his critics who have questioned his performances outside India.

Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma was the star of the Indian bowling attack the last time they played at Lord's in 2014. However, he managed just one wicket this time around.

He probably should have got a couple more wickets with the way he was bowling, but the English batsmen proved to be too good for him.

He will continue to lead the bowling attack for India for the rest of the series.

Mohammed Shami

Shami was the best bowler for India in the previous match, picking up three wickets. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to stop Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes from running riot.

He will look to continue his good run of form in the third Test and continue to rattle the opposition with his pace and swing.

Jasprit Bumrah

Jasprit Bumrah was deemed fit for training but not match-fit prior to the second Test. However, he should be fit now and we could surely expect to see him back on the field alongside Shami and Ishant.

He will be a welcome addition to the side and could also prove to be the X-factor with the ball.