The Indian cricket team will depart from Chennai for Ahmedabad on Thursday afternoon for the remaining two Tests against England at the new Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera. The Indian Premier League auctions will be hold there as well.
England had won first of the four Tests before India came back into the series by winning the second Test by a record margin of 317 runs. The first two Test matches were played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
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The third Test, to be played with pink ball, will begin on February 24 at the refurbished stadium. The new stadium has been rebuilt and the capacity has been increased to 1,10,000. The last match of the series will also be played there.
Indian selectors have included pace bowler Umesh Yadav in the Indian team set-up and if fit, he will replace pace bowler Shardul Thakur.
Yadav, 33, will join the team in Ahmedabad following a fitness test. He had sustained a calf injury on the third day of the second Test against Australia in Melbourne in December. The injury had ruled him out of the rest of the series and for the first two Tests against England.
Thakur will join the Mumbai squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy that will play their first match of the tournament on February 21, against Delhi in Jaipur
Meanwhile, debutant left-arm spinner Axar Patel was the star campaigner for India as he returned with a five-wicket haul in England’s second innings and put India on the way to a comfortable 317-run win in the second Test on Tuesday at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Chasing 482 to win on the dusty rank turner at Chepauk, England were bundled out for a paltry 164 in 54.2 overs in the second session of the fourth day’s play. The result helped the Virat Kohli-led side to level the four-match series at 1-1.
The win also essential as it has India at the second spot on the World Test Championship points table. Another win in one of the two impending matches would give spot in the final of the WTC against New Zealand, due to be played at the Lord’s later this year.
Ravichandran Ashwin was adjudged as the Man of the Match for his majestic century in the second innings and a haul of eight wickets in the match, including a five-for during England’s innings.
