IND vs ENG | 2nd Test Preview: Under pressure hosts vow to comeback against confident tourists

The England team joined the bandwagon of touring teams trumping the hosts which has been the trend so far this year and handed India a proper hammering and also a wake-up call in the first Test at Chepauk. If at all India were struggling to move on from the incredible highs of their heist in Australia, Root’s mastery against their spinners, followed by better showing by their spinners in both innings would have surely settled the dust.

No experts and fans gave England any chance and they admitted all of their predictions go wrong as Joe Root led from the front with immense concentration and hunger to succeed, aptly supported by batsmen performing judicious duties to put the Indian bowling attack which appeared toothless on the most part of the first two days in absence of Ravindra Jadeja under relentless pressure.

What makes England’s performance in Chennai so impressive that they defeated India in their own peril in every department of the game. Dom Sibley held one innings strong, while Joe Root made sure runs were scored and the pressure was always on the fourth and fifth bowlers which always compelled Kohli to bring back his main weapons in Ashwin, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah. It looked like England played the game in perfectly the same manner that India have been playing at home in the recent past that chalked a path of real domination for them.

Now 1-0 down in the four-match Test series, Kohli and India will be hungrier to establish the defeat in Chennai was a minor blip and it was not a product of something seriously wrong creeping in the system. He was frank in his admission on all aspects of the game and accepted that the team lacked intensity in the field and failed to bat big in the first innings and left a lot to do in the second innings.

To be fair to them, they had to bowl when the pitch was at its best for batsmen, and the lack of match-practice behind one of their spinners-- Shahbaz Nadeem was clearly evident with the lack of control he had on his lines and lengths. He allowed poor balls to the English batsmen, while the off-spinner Washington Sundar could not perform the task of drying up runs from the other end that could have allowed Kohli to rotate the trio of Ishant, Bumrah, and Ashwin. They could not limit the damage and England went on with their momentum towards a score of invincibility.

Come Saturday, Kohli would hope his bowlers will provide him with better control and will be reliable in terms of bowling according to the field settings. 

Apart from the concerns in the bowling department, Kohli had to deal with major concerns in the batting department as well, which in general has been India’s stronger suit at home. All batsmen were guilty of not converting their starts, while others such as Ajinkya Rahane and Pujara were unlucky in the first innings, while the second innings found them incapable against the art of James Anderson and discipline of Jack Leach on the fifth-day pitch.

Pujara batted well in the series against Australia but he is due for a big hundred and Rahane’s bat too, has gone silent after the brilliant hundred against Australia. Both Pujara and Rahane, who bat around Kohli have been the building blocks of the Indian team in Test cricket, and their role in the team can be ascertained with Kohli’s words in the aftermath of defeat in the first Test when he said that the duo is the 'most important test batsmen’. Kohli will be hopeful for a better performance from them in the second Test match.

On the other hand, however buoyant England will be after the win in the first Test, they will do well to remember the resilience of this team to come back stranger in the face of adversities. The last time they were defeated in India was way back in 2017 in the very first Test of the series but still came back strongly to defeat Australia in two Test matches to clinch the series.

Joe Root will be telling his teammates to be focussed and bat with the same maturity as they did in the first innings of the Chennai Test, while he will back his spinners to put the lessons they learnt in the first Test to use once again.

England will bank on the timeless geniuses of Anderson and Stuart Broad to provide exquisite spells in case the pinners will be put under pressure. Anderson has been in excellent rhythm in the two Tests he has played, and Root wants to make good use of him before opting him to rest under the rotation policy.

India vs England: Match Details

Match No.-02

Date and Time: 13-17 February, 09:30 am IST, 04:00 am GMT

Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Broadcast and Live Stream: Star Sports, Hotstar

Pitch conditions

The BCCI has pulled up the pitch curator at Chepauk for failing to provide a pitch that assisted any form of competition between bat and ball on the first two days, let alone the pitch with an ‘English look’ that was promised.

Red soil was used for the pitch in the last game and it took an eternity for it to break and assist spinners, and hence a mixture of black soil and red soil will be used for the pitch in the second Test. Black soil breaks up quickly and offers turn earlier than the red soil, and hence it is being predicted that the second Test will offer more turn from the first day itself.

The Indian team management in the past has been critical of such pitches as they argue it makes toss much more crucial than it should and the team batting first reaps the unfair advantage of the surface playing true and comfortable for the batsmen.

Team News

India

India will be delighted to see a fit-again Axar Patel ‘raring to go’ into the second Test match as their team combination was floundering with his late withdrawal due to knee injury. Kohli had expressed no regrets over picking Nadeem over Kuldeep Yadav in search of someone who could take the ball away from right-handers.

With Axar back in the team and Nadeem out to stand-by players, there is an opportunity for Kuldeep Yadav to finally break into the playing XI in place of Washington Sundar, who had contrasting fortunes with the bat and ball in the first Test. 

He was hardly called upon by Kohli in the second innings, and it does show Kohli doesn’t rate Washington’s off-spinning abilities too much and the batting cushion he brings with himself can well be provided by Axar, and it opens up the door for his exit and Kuldeep’s entry into the team.

The team management may also feel the need to rest Jasprit Bumrah with the return of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav not in immediate sight. Mohammed Siraj will be itching to take the bowl and his style of full-length bowling may prove crucial for the team.

Apart from the change in the bowling department, Kohli is unlikely to bring any change in the team with Pant continuing to don the gloves while Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane will find their place secured as of now, although the duo will have to deal with huge pressure.

Strongest XI

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj

England

England have opted for rotation policy to prevent fatigue among players due to extended periods of being under quarantine and under this policy, Jos Buttler who had a nice game behind the stumps will fly back to the UK, and Ben Foakes will make his return to the playing XI.

England were to rest Anderson as well with their policy of playing one of him or Broad in a Test match and looks like the move will be continued in India as well, although the injury and sickness to Jofra Archer hurt the potency of their attack with only Broad left with some amount of experience. He will partner with Olly Stone who has an x-factor about him in terms of pace and can be as fiery as Archer with the ball in his hand. Or else, the team can also go for the reliability of Chris Woakes who is not known for pace but can be beneficial on tracks with variable bounce.

Off-spinner Dominic Bess had a missed game in the first Test as he was able to extract the big wicket of Kohli, Rahane and Pant in the first innings, but was way too wayward for a frontline spinner. The team management will be tempted to go for Moen Ali who can also provide batting stability against spin bowling. Moeen had a terrific time with the bat in the last series against India in 2016 but will be making a comeback after a long time as he got contracted with COVID-19 and missed the entire series against Sri Lanka.

Strongest XI

Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Daniel Lawrence, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Moeen Ali, Ben Foakes(wk), Jack Leach, Stuart Broad, Olly Stone