Legendary Indian batsman Sourav Ganguly claims that the Indian cricket team is favorites to win the third match. A win will bring the hosts one step closer to a spot in the World Test Championship final.
The former Indian captain recalled the pink-ball Test memories between India and Bangladesh that left the atmosphere at Kolkata totally buzzing. The Indian cricket team played only one Day-Night Test, against Bangladesh in November 2019. The hosts got the win by an innings and 46 runs. It will be the first time India and England will face each other in a pink-ball Test.
The Motera Stadium has 11 clay pitches – six made of red soil and five with black soil
The Motera stadium is now the world's largest cricket stadium, with a capacity of 1,32,000 spectators. While most cricket grounds are created round in shape, the newly built Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad is oval. The reason behind this is to guarantee that the boundary's size remains the same regardless of the pitch on which the match is being played. Overall, there are 11 pitches on the ground; six are of red soil and five of black soil.
Considering the ICC World Test Championship final, the remaining two Tests between both teams hold great significance. The Indian team needs to win the series by at least a margin of 2-1 to make the WTC finals. If India loses the third match, Kohli and Co. are out of the WTC contention. On the other end, England has to win both the remaining games to qualify for the WTC finals. If the India-England series ends in a 1-1 or 2-2 draw, Australia will make it to the WTC finals.
It will be thrilling to see if India can maintain their spotless home record in the third match against England. Indian skipper Virat Kohli has been the most successful Indian batsman in day/night Tests so far. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav have also claimed a five-wicket haul each against Bangladesh. Ishant concluded that match with nine wickets, while Umesh accounted for eight wickets.
