ENG vs IND | 2nd Test Preview: Teams search elusive balanced XI as action moves to Lord's

There were huge expectations from the Test series between England and India and the first round of a five-game long contest had everything in it to justify the expectations. 

It had multiple bowling spells of the highest quality, a couple of stupendous batting knocks and also average performances scattered across the five days. However, all of that could not please the rain gods to have some mercy on the flow of the game and ultimately they left it with no chance of a result on the final day.

For a change, in a Test series in England, India were favourites to start with, and they only proved their mettle on the very first day of the series. Their bowlers kept asking tough questions of the England batsmen and handed them a harsh reality check with immense control over line and length.

However, they were not allowed to run away with the game by the hosts with skipper Joe Root leading their riposte to shoulder the burden of his failing teammates. He scored what experts rated one of his best Test ton to put England in an equal position by the end of the penultimate day.

India were 157 runs away from having a 1-0 lead over the hosts, only to be denied the opportunity by persistent rain on the final day. The hosts were not shy of having a crack on the remaining nine Indian batsmen either and Root asserted that they had in them to create nine opportunities in whatever time was left on the final day.

So, after all the promises and brilliance in the first Test where both teams believed they could win, the caravan now moves to the Home of Cricket—Lord’s.

Both these sides have had a mixed bag at the venue in the recent past. India have had one of their most remarkable wins overseas at this ground while some of their terrible performances have come at Lord’s as well. 

England too have lost Test matches to Pakistan and were close to losing one earlier in the summer against New Zealand. They had lost their first Test against India in 2014 but bounced back sharply by handing the Virat Kohli-led side a crushing defeat in 2018.

From the last time, teams and mindset have changed a lot. India are now a formidable opponent irrespective of the conditions while England are without the opening solidity of Alastair Cook and are playing with ever so fragile top order.

England vs India: Match Details

Match Number- 02

Date and Time: August 12-16, 2021, 3:30 pm IST, 10:30 Local, 10:00 IST

Venue: Lord’s, London

Broadcast and Live Stream: SonyLIV, Sony Six

Pitch and weather

The pitch at the Lord’s should not be a green one considering that England will not be willing to play against Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj or Ishant Sharma in case he is selected on a lively surface. Also, the Root-Silverwood duo had indicated that England were willing to play on flat surfaces to prepare for hard grind in the Ashes and in general, the overseas Tests.

As it’s said that the overhead condition matter as much as the nature of the pitches in England, and hence it should not be a pace-conducive pitch at Lord’s. 

The weather conditions in London across the five days of the Test should all but compromise for the frustrating rain intervals in the first Test

Team News

England

England are set to induce wholesome changes for this Test as they are looking to field a balanced playing XI with an in-form top order. They have called upon Moeen Ali to search for elusive balance in absence of Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes.

Moeen is likely to bat at the number seven position behind Jos Buttler while Haseeb Hameed could well be back after a long gap of five years at the top of the order. He is likely to replace Zak Crawley, whose marathon double century against Pakistan last year has appeared to be in the last century due to perennial failures with the bat.

Hosts’ problems have been compounded by the injury to Stuart Broad and they will have to bring back Mark Wood, who will add pace and impact to the bowling attack. However, the team will miss Broad’s mastery of bowling at Lord’s and will rely on Ollie Robinson to produce goods.

The team will also have to deal with a muddled batting order. If Hameed comes in the place of Crawley and bats at the number three position, Dan Lawrence will make way for Moeen. However, the hosts can also look to replace both Sibley, whose resistance at the crease has not been proven beneficial in recent times, and Crawley with Hameed and Ollie Pope.

The quartet of Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, and Moeen Ali are all but certain to bat at the number four, five, six and seven respectively while there will be discussions around the composition of the top order. Only Rory Burns, who has a hundred to his name against a strong New Zealand bowling attack in the last series should be certain about his place in the side.

An injury scare has been sounded for James Anderson too as he missed his net sessions on Wednesday. It would be interesting to see if he plays. Saqib Mahmood has any been called up as Broad's injury cover

Probable XI

Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root (C), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (WK), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, James Anderson/ Saqib Mahmood, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, 

India

India do not seem to have too many injury problems to solve while deciding the playing XI for the Lord’s Test, but an injury to Shardul Thakur may limit their options.

Shardul played the last Test in place of Ravichandran Ashwin as he could bring both his good enough batting and pace bowling to the table. However, in his absence, and with clear weather in sight, India would be eager to play Ashwin.

They could also consider bringing one extra pacer that will be fraught with a huge risk of elongating tail.

Ishant Sharma has a decent bowling number to show at Lord’s and India would be tempted to play him ahead of Mohammed Siraj, who bowled well at Trent Bridge but got carried away looking at the movement off the pitch and in the air.

Mayank Agarwal missed the last Test due to a concussion injury and KL Rahul got a fortunate entry into the playing XI. He batted magnificently in both the innings and the spell of his good and Agarwal’s misfortune should continue at Lord’s.

Probable XI

KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

Fantasy XI

Rishabh Pant, Joe Root, KL Rahul(C), Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson