India vs England: Gus Atkinson named in the England squad for the third Test

The mighty 'Bazball' was coerced into submission by a raw Indian squad in Birmingham. Led by the young Shubman Gill, the visitors claimed their first-ever Test victory at Edgbaston, beating the hosts by a huge margin in the second India vs England Test. The five-match Test series now stands level as the groups prepare for a high-stakes clash at the iconic Lord's next. While the English captain rues the nature of the surface at his home, the skipper knows that the issue with this combination runs deeper than just the fight against the conditions. While Jofra Archer is already a part, Gus Atkinson has been named in the England squad for the third India vs England Test.

Hosts deepen pace attack as Gus Atkinson joins England squad for third India vs England Test

The hosts won the India vs England series opener by 5 wickets at Headingley to kick off the proceedings. However, India fell to its own vices rather than England's pressure in Leeds. The team dropped as many as 10 catches, seemingly dropping the match there. The bowlers, barring Jasprit Bumrah, could not lay an impact on the dead surface of Headingley. In the batting department, while England had its say against the tailenders, the top order smashed records.

Shubman Gill marked his captaincy debut with a ton as Yashasvi Jaiswal also announced his arrival in England with a century. Rishabh Pant became only the second wicketkeeper-batsman to pile twin centuries in a Test. Adding the impressive century by KL Rahul in the second innings, India scored 5 tons in the opening Test at Headingley. The Headingley Test marked the first instance of Team India scoring that many centuries in a single Test fixture. Clearly, England's bowling attack didn't perform on par with what their result later suggested.

However, despite the loopholes in the attack, England backed the original combination for the Edgbaston Test. The second India vs England Test, however, proved even harder for the hosts. Shubman Gill scored 269 in the first innings, smashing multiple records on his way to his maiden Test double ton. The skipper returned in the second innings to hit yet another ton in the fixture. As the England attack went absolutely toothless on the flat surface, India called Bazball in the chase of 608 runs. As anticipated, their approach was dismantled as England could not even work for a draw, losing the second India vs England Test by 336 runs.

Immediately after the loss, England's squad for the third Test at Lord's was announced. Jofra Archer was named in the squad for the second Test. However, the hosts waited to play the speedster returning from injury. Now, for the third Test, another pacer sidelined by an injury has been called up. Ahead of the second Test, the ECB Managing Director, Rob Key, had confirmed that Archer would play either of the next two Tests. As Archer missed the Edgbaston Test, the speedster is likely to feature at Lord's. Meanwhile, by calling up Atkinson as well, England is hinting at a major overhaul in the bowling attack as the series now stands level.

Gus Atkinson was ruled out of the England squad following the one-off Test against Zimbabwe that England played at home before hosting India. The speedster picked up a hamstring injury which sidelined him from the India vs England proceedings. However, with two matches over, Atkinson seems to have recovered from his injury. The rest of the England squad remains unchanged for the third Test. India, meanwhile, are likely to play their pace spearhead, Jasprit Bumrah, at Lord's.

Bumrah has been confirmed to be available for only three out of the total five Tests in England. To manage his workload and avoid any strain on his body, the management rested the top performer at Edgbaston. However, following the iconic win in Birmingham, the Indian captain, Shubman Gill, confirmed at the post-match presentation that Bumrah would join the attack at Lord's.

England squad for the third India vs England Test at Lord's

Ben Stokes (C), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Sam Cook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jamie Overton, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes