Why ball tampering allegations against Virat Kohli hold no basis

India could make changes of their own with wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha set to be replaced by Parthiv Patel, who is a useful left-handed batsman with a Test average of just under 30, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has taken five wickets in an innings in his last two Tests, could be back in the XI having recovered from injury. With India now leading in the series with one win and one draw, can England come back to compete? Still, there are lots of room for improvement as the opener failed to make a mark in the recently concluded India vs England test match.

Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow hold further importance down the order and have shown their value in sub-continental conditions, and 19-year-old Haseeb Hameed has demonstrated with abundance his mental and technical capacity at Test level.

On dismissing the Indian batsmen, Woakes said, “It is saddening that our main fast bowler Stuart Broad is not playing this time, he is a world class player, he is a great bowler, if he had be here for some longer time then our plan of dismissing batsmen for other side would have become more stronger”.

India Test captain Virat Kohli has sought inspiration from one of the most celebrated Mixed Martial Arts exponent Conor McGregor, who once declared that there’s no talent, but only hard work.

Woakes fielded a volley of questions surrounding ongoing “Sweet-Gate” in context to what happened with the South African team in Australia and also in the ongoing series in India. Virat Kohli and Co appeared to have a grim battle on hand. India is now relying heavily on Pujara and Virat to get the bulk of the runs, but if they don’t fire then the team will be in trouble. Woakes’s guess after seeing the Mohali pitch was that England might resist playing an extra seamer at the expense of a spinner. With a target of 405 in sight England struggled on a spin assisted wicket as the Indian spin trio bamboozled the English men. Ashwin and Jayant Yadav’s contributions with the bat are of enormous value to the hosts, but a reliance on them, along with the likes of Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja, is a risky tightrope for India to walk for future tours in India and overseas.

In the First Test, India selected Gautham Gambir to open the innings with Murali Vijay for the injured KL Rahul simply because of his form during the First-Class season.

“I’m fit and available for selection”. As of now, it seems that Ben Duckett will be replaced by Jos Buttler in the number 4 position in the batting line-up.

Virat Kohli’s brilliance with the bat combined with spinner Jayant Yadav’s impressive showing on his debut means India are full of confidence but their talismanic captain is wary of complacency. “But in case of an Indian player it backs out”. His batting too has been disappointing in this series so far.

With the third Test due to start here on Saturday, Kumble asserted that the Indians are not too anxious about the pitch at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium (PCA).

“I had a little big of a niggle in my knee which I’ve managed over quite a long period of time and it just got a bit sore in that first Test so Cooky and the coach made a decision to rotate the seamers”, he said. Good luck to them.