"He has great numbers vs Gill" - Varun Aaron on potential battle to watch out for in ENG vs IND 2025 3rd Test

Former India player Varun Aaron has picked the potential battle between Jofra Archer and the Indian batting lineup as one of the contests to watch out for in the third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. He noted that the England seamer can trouble both Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, and has an excellent record against Shubman Gill.

The third Test of the five-match series between India and England will be played at Lord's from Thursday, July 10, onwards. Archer, who wasn't part of the hosts' playing XI for the first two Tests, could be included in the attack at Lord's.

During an interaction on the Star Sports show 'Game Plan,' Aaron was asked to pick the battles to watch out for in the Lord's Test.

"The Archer vs India contest is what I will look at, because Archer has that ability to straighten the ball from off-stump to a left-hander. Jaiswal has been key for India, especially at the start," the former India pacer responded.

"He can also expose if there are any problems with KL Rahul, with the ball coming back in, because we saw what Woakes did, attacked the stumps a lot. Then if we get Gill in early, again he has great numbers vs Gill," he added.

Aaron opined that Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep's battle against the England top order could be another enticing contest.

"Bumrah, Siraj and Akash Deep vs the top order of the England batting unit, because Siraj and Akash Deep have gotten 17 wickets between them in the second Test, a lot of wickets with the new ball, and, at the end of the day, if you get wickets with the new ball and get your team off to a good start at Lord's, you are mostly commanding the whole Test," he reasoned.

Shubman Gill has scored 18 runs at an average of 9.00 against Jofra Archer in Tests. The stylish batter was caught at mid-on off Archer's bowling in India's first innings of the first Test against England in Chennai in February 2021 and skied a pull shot to short square leg in the first innings of the third Test of the same series in Ahmedabad.

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"I don't think England's batters are going to be very comfortable going into Lord's" - Varun Aaron

The England batters were found wanting in the second Test against India. [P/C: Getty]

In the same interaction, Varun Aaron was asked whether England's batting would fare better in the Lord's Test.

"I don't think England's batters are going to be very comfortable going into Lord's knowing the way Siraj and Akash Deep have bowled, and also with a resurgent Bumrah, who is going to come back into the team," he replied.

The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that virtually all Indian bowlers were at the top of their game in the second Test.

"(Ravindra) Jadeja is bowling really well. He is not missing the mark at all. Washington Sundar was bowling well as well. Prasidh Krishna also showed extreme progress in the first spell he bowled on the last day. So overall, the Indian bowling attack is looking very good," Aaron observed.

To conclude, Varun Aaron pointed out that Ben Stokes' underwhelming performances with the bat haven't been spoken about. He highlighted that the England captain hasn't scored too many runs in four innings and needs to come to the party.