London [UK], July 9 : As England heads to London for the third Test at Lord's, there will be eyeballs and question marks over their skipper Ben Stokes' form, as the superstar has struggled to fire with the bat for a long while.
With series 1-1, each following a historic win at Edgbaston, Team India's morale will be really high heading into a venue where they have won the last two of their three Tests. Stokes has had a moderate series so far, with just 86 runs in four innings, with the best score of 33. He has also taken six wickets so far, including a four-wicket haul at Leeds.
Stokes' run of form has not been doing justice to his undeniable talent and ability to produce absolute greatness when it matters the most. In 16 Tests since last year, Stokes has scored just 697 runs at an average of 26.81, with just five fifties and a best score of 80.
But Stokes could find some form at the venue, given his brilliant record with the bat at the 'Home of Cricket', having made 843 runs in 12 matches and 20 innings at an average of 44.36, with three centuries and five fifties. His best score is 155.
Stokes does not have a very good record against India either, having made just 1,058 runs at an average of 24.60, with five half-centuries and a best score of 128, with a century and five fifties.
Will Stokes step up and give England a fresh breath of life in this series at Lord's?
Squads:
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel, Sai Sudharsan, Arshdeep Singh, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav
England Squad: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes(c), Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Shoaib Bashir, Jamie Overton, Josh Tongue, Sam James Cook, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell.