England vs India, 3rd Test Stats Preview: Virat Kohli, Joe Root approaching significant milestones

India and England are gearing up to lock horns in the third Test of the five-match series. The encounter gets underway on August 25 (Wednesday) at the Headingly in Leeds. Although the home advantage has been in England’s favour, Virat Kohli’s men were on a roll in the first two games. While the opening clash at the Trent Bridged resulted in a draw, the visitors walked away with a stunning 151-run triumph in the second Test at the Lord’s Cricket Stadium.

Hence, India are 1-0 up in the series and a win in the third Test would give them an unassailable 2-0 lead. With stakes being incredibly high, both teams would be raring to unleash their best show in Leeds. The Joe Root-led side certainly has some work to do as not many things worked for them in the first two games. One of the major reasons behind their downfall was the constant failure of the batting order.

Except for skipper Root, none of the English batters have been able to make a significant mark. The inability of bowlers to take wickets with the new ball has also dented the home team. Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have been impressive and the Three Lions must find a way to restrict them.

On the other hand, the visitors have ticked most of the boxes. Besides the openers, batters in the middle order have also got runs. However, it’s the bowling attack that has troubled the home team the most. The pace quartet didn’t let England breathe easy as their batters couldn’t do much in previous outings. While the Indian camp would be confident, the Three Lions would be backing themselves to emerge victoriously. Hence, the third Test has a lot in prospect.

Meanwhile, let’s look at all the key records and approaching milestones ahead of the third Test between England and India

Head to Head record: The two teams have clashed in 128 Tests until now, of which England have won 48 matches. India have registered 30 victories while 50 matches were drawn.

2 – Overall, England have hosted India in six Tests at the Headingley Stadium. While the home team won three games, India emerged victoriously twice. The remaining encounter ended in a draw.

169 – Indian opener Rohit Sharma is 169 runs away from completing 2000 runs in Test cricket. He’ll be the 23rd Indian to achieve the milestone.

63 – India skipper Virat Kohli has scored 22937 runs in 487 innings till now across formats. Hence, he needs 63 runs to complete 23,000 international runs. He’ll be the quickest to reach the milestone.

2 – Ravindra Jadeja needs 2 wickets to complete 450 wickets across formats. He’ll be the fourth left-arm spinner to achieve the feat after Daniel Vettori, Shakib Al Hasan, and Rangana Herath.

5 – Ravi Ashwin needs 5 wickets to surpass Harbhajan Singh (417) in terms of Test wickets tally, and become the third-highest Test wicket-taker for India.

5 –  Sam Curran is 5 wickets away from 50 Test wickets.

100 – Rohit Sharma needs 100 runs to complete 15,000 runs in international cricket. He’ll be the eighth Indian to get the milestone.

44 – Jonny Bairstow needs 14 runs to become the 15th England player to complete 9000 runs in international cricket.

8 – Moeen Ali needs eight scalps to complete 200 Test wickets. He’ll become the fourth England spinner to get the milestone.

1 – Ishant Sharma needs just one wicket to become India’s second most successful pacer in Test cricket. He’s currently par with Zaheer Khan, having taken 311 wickets in the format.

5  – Jasprit Bumrah is five wickets away from completing 100 wickets in Test cricket.

27 – Joe Root will become the most successful Test captain for England if the home team wins the first third match. He will surpass Michael Vaughan (26 wins) in the record tally.