IND vs ENG 2025: Bumrah-Archer battle hog limelight as Lord’s prepare for marquee Test

Jasprit Bumrah will return to the Indian Team for the third Test, while England have already included Jofra Archer to their XI for the marquee Lord’s tie, making it a mouth-watering clash for those in attendance. Though Bumrah played the first Test in Leeds and missed the second one for workload management, Archer returns to England’s Test side for the first time in four years. The ace quick was the 12th man in the previous Test in Birmingham, which England lost, and how the crowd cheered him while he brought the drinks to the field speaks volumes of the interest everyone has in watching him throw rockets in the whites. Here is the match preview of the third Test between India and England.

Match Preview

Team India is beaming with confidence after crushing England by a massive 336 runs at Edgbaston to level (1-1) the five-match series. Despite not having Bumrah, their bowlers picked 20 wickets across both innings, with 17 of those coming to the fast-bowling pair of Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj. Both are more than likely to retain their spots in the XI for the Lord’s Test, with Bumrah returning in for under-fire seamer Prasidh Krishna.

Bumrah’s comeback will boost the pace attack and Team India’s confidence as they prepare to win back-to-back matches at the Mecca of Cricket. India’s last outing at this venue resulted in a thrilling win for them under Virat Kohli’s captaincy, with KL Rahul (who hit a hundred in that Test) and seamers turning up the heat in 2021.

India’s batting, however, needs no change, as they are likely to stick with the same XI, barring one change where Bumrah returns.

On the other hand, England have already named their playing XI for the third Test, also making just one change – Archer in for Josh Tongue. With their management and leadership backing opener Zak Crawley, who hasn’t found his touch in this series yet, he has a chance to break open India’s lethal seam attack and seal his spot for the remaining matches.

While Captain Ben Stokes’ form also remains a worry for the hosts, the skipper insists there’s nothing much to read in that as he also prepares to contribute more with the bat in this Test. However, Joe Root and Harry Brook will have the entire onus on them, with keeper-batter Jamie Smith willing to continue his purple patch.

Predicted/Playing XIs -

Predicted XI for India – Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj

England’s XI – Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir and Brydon Carse