July 10, 2025: England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat first against India in the third Test at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground on Thursday. With the series tied 1-1, both teams are looking to seize the edge.
India enters the match riding high after a dominant win at Edgbaston, where Shubman Gill led with breathtaking knocks of 269 and 161, Mohammed Siraj claimed six wickets, and Akash Deep registered a remarkable 10-wicket haul. Notably, this was achieved without Jasprit Bumrah, who now returns to the XI in place of Prasidh Krishna.
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Stokes acknowledged the early pitch assistance but backed his team to handle the conditions. “We are going to have a bat. There’s something here early on, but it’s a good cricket wicket overall,” he said.
Gill, too, admitted to some indecision over the toss, saying, “I would have bowled first. The pitch will help bowlers early. But our team is confident after the last win.”
India’s record at Lord’s cricket has seen a turnaround in recent years, winning two out of their last three matches at the venue (2014, 2018, 2021), despite England historically dominating the head-to-head 12-3 in 19 Tests here.
Playing XIs:
- India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
- England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir.