Seven years ago, India had recorded a convincing win at Lord’s after a draw in the first Test, but then lost the plot completely as England won the following three games comfortably to wrap up the series.

The backdrop is quite similar this time and one has to wait to find out if the outcome is different.

Captain Virat Kohli, who had a forgettable time with the bat during that 2014 series, doesn’t really believe in attaching much importance to history. And why should he? The current Indian cricket team is much more complete, much stronger than the one seven seasons back.

Their battered opponents, on the other hand, are struggling to even forge a proper XI. It’s fair enough to say India hold the upper hand and are in a better space going into the third Test beginning on Wednesday at Headingley in Leeds.

England, with their batting heavily reliant on skipper Joe Root in the absence of some key players, have found the going tough against an Indian attack that has improved remarkably.

The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj have made better use of the English conditions than most of their England counterparts.

“India have bowlers who can win you a Test in all conditions. There’s a lot of depth in the side,” left-handed batsman Dawid Malan, likely to bat at No.3 for England in this Test, said.

Kohli, however, doesn’t seem to be too amused if the weakness of his opposition gets too much of attention. “Does that depend on the strength of the opposition?” the skipper shot back when asked on match-eve if England getting further weakened with pacer Mark Wood’s shoulder injury makes it an ideal occasion for India to go for the kill.

“Even if the key players were playing, we think we can beat any side in the world and we don’t wait for the opposition to be weak.”

Not just in terms of batting, bowling and fielding, but also in terms of verbal volleys, the hosts have been put under severe pressure by the Indians.

However, team combination-wise, India seem to be a tad uncertain over whether to go in with the winning combination or bring distinguished off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin back in the XI.

“We don’t have any reason to change the winning combination, unless someone has a niggle, which hasn’t been the case,” Kohli said, adding: “As far as Ashwin playing is concerned, we’re quite surprised to see the pitch.

“We could see a lot of the surface and there’s not much grass on it, so anything’s possible. We always name a XII and on the day, we’ll go with the right combination.”

⚫ Match starts: 3.30pm (IST). Live on Sony Six & Sony Ten 3