Venue: Lord’s, London
Time: 3:30PM IST
Average score at venue: 207
Win percentage while batting first: 25%
Pitch Conditions:
- The pitch at the home of cricket in London is expected to carry green and fresh grass come match day on Thursday, assisting fast bowlers early on in the contest but getting better for batting as the game progresses.
- Both the teams have serious concerns regarding their batting and it remains to be seen how they answer the questions that their world-class bowling attacks throw at their respective fragile batting line-ups once again.
- Fast bowlers have a massive wicket-share percentage at this venue with 92.74% while spinners getting only 7.26% .
Weather prediction:
Unlike in Nottingham where the opening Test match ended in a disappointing draw with persistent rains not allowing final day’s play to take place, Lord’s is expected to host a full match with a little rain around on the fourth day. Almost all days will have cloud cover whereas temperature will linger around 23 to 24° celsius, with humidity under 70%.
Head-to-head performance:
Matches played: 127
India won: 29
England won: 48
Tied: –
Draw: 50
AT LORD’S, LONDON:
Matches played: 18
India won: 2
England won: 12
Tied: –
Draw: 4
Top 3 players from India: KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami
Top 3 players from England: Joe Root, James Anderson, Ollie Robinson
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each)
Top 5 players from India: KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma
Top 5 players from England: Joe Root, James Anderson, Ollie Robinson, Jonny Bairstow, Rory Burns
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
England adopted a conservative approach as far as batting was concerned in the opening Test of the series, by playing an extra batsman while still taking 20 wickets. On the other hand, India would not mind adding more to their batting line-up given the brittleness of their middle-order and the unpredictability of the top. The last two matches at this venue between India and England witnessed green-top pitches, and teams who batted better have won — something that India would know having done so in 2014. Adding more to the batting depth will be the right approach for this contest.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
England are playing in their home conditions where they are more comfortable and habituated. On their part, India did not show any particular troubles as far as acclimatisation was concerned throughout the opening Test. Both the teams have plenty of talented players and some indispensable ones such as Sam Curran in England’s or Ravindra Jadeja in India’s case. But England will feel certainly depleted with the unavailability of Stuart Broad as well as express fast bowler Olly Stone, apart from already losing Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. The first Test of the series was a mixed affair in which every party had their say, which highlights the importance of maintaining the right balance between the bat and the ball as far as electing the fantasy cricket XI for the second Test is concerned.
MORE INFORMATION:
Players’ form: England, who are playing this series without their regular vice-captain Ben Stokes and fiery pacer Jofra Archer, have been depleted further as Stuart Broad is the latest to be ruled out of the second match owing to an injury. A few reports also suggested that express fast bowler Olly Stone is not available for the next six months or so, which means Mark Wood is likely to team up with James Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Sam Curran and spearhead England’s charge with the ball. England have also called up Moeen Ali for the first time since 2019 to the Test side and young and exciting fast bowler Saqib Mahmood to plug in the holes, but their biggest hope in this contest will be captain Joe Root, who returned with scores of 64 and 109 at Trent Bridge. TIndia will also be without the services of Shardul Thakur who has been ruled out of the second match due to an injury. India’s venerable men in Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin are in fray to replace the right-arm seamer bowler.
Changes in squad (if any): YES
LIKELY XIs:
INDIA (IND): Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin/Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.
ENGLAND: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler, Dan Lawrence, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson/Moeen Ali, Mark Wood, James Anderson/Saqib Mahmood.
FANTASY XI:
KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Joe Root (c), Virat Kohli (vc), Dan Lawrence, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Mohammad Shami, James Anderson/Saqib Mahmood, Jasprit Bumrah.
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Confident India look to maintain momentum
It will be no exaggeration in saying that India were the better side for the majority of the opening Test at Trent Bridge in Nottingham last week — something that they would want to build upon and maintain when they take field on Thursday for the second Test at Lord’s.
And with the pitch at the ‘home of cricket’ expected to be favourable to fast bowlers as it was for the last two occasions when these two teams play each other in 2014 and 2018, India will be a particularly excited bunch given how their fast bowlers performed at Nottingham.
The surprise pace combination of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur took all 20 wickets in the opening Test with the lone spinner in the side, Ravindra Jadeja, going wicketless in the two innings as India stood 157 runs away from victory at the close.
Had inclement weather not disrupted play and forced a disappointing result in a draw in the first Test, India might have been 1-0 ahead in this five-match affair for the Pataudi Trophy given how they went about their job in all departments.
Keeping aside yet another disappointing show with the bat from India top batsmen in Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, it was a top-notch effort from the touring team which has not necessarily had happier days coming their way in a bunch while playing Test cricket in England.
The group of fast bowlers not only took 20 wickets to take India as close as possible for a possible victory at Nottingham, they also added a crucial 133 runs for the last five wickets in the second innings which put India in a position of command and dominated England.
With his performance with the bat, Jadeja looked indispensable and it remains to be seen if at all he faces any sort of heat for a spot in the side as Ravichandran Ashwin is being touted to come back.
But in all likelihood, Ashwin will replace an injured Thakur as there are murmurs of the team taking a huge risk by not playing its best spinner and a handy batsman lower down the order.
If India are to win this series — given that England are far too fragile with the bat and are also missing some feisty characters in Stokes, Archer and even Broad (for this match) and possibly Anderson — they will need their batsmen to step up and deliver.
Anderson did not participate in the training session on Wednesday following a trouble in his quad muscle, and there are speculations that England will be without their most potent weapon with the ball for the Lord’s Test.
While England will be extremely pleased with how Root went about his job getting 64 and 109 in the two innings and marshalling his troops almost impeccably at Trent Bridge, it is the inferiority of their batting line-up that puts them on the back-foot even before a contest begins.
In the mid 30s, some of England’s specialist batsmen such as Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow — two of the most experienced after Root — and not to mention the whole crop of their young batsmen, average as much as India’s specialist all-rounder in Jadeja.
The top order consisting Rory Burns, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley did themselves no favours despite being presented with some of the best batting conditions during the first Test. Crawley at No 3 is under severe pressure for falling in far too many single-digit scores in recent times, which adds more to the pressure on their No 4 Root and those who follow after.
At the same time, the story remains the same for India — Kohli last scored a century in November 2019, Pujara scored a triple-figure score in January 2019 and Rahane is far too inconsistent for anyone’s liking.
The heat will particularly be on the likes of Pujara and Rahane who have never been consistent enough to be seen as a potent threat against the opposition team.
Rahane was the architect of India’s only second victory at Lord’s in 2014 when he stood tall to deliver a hundred of highest quality in extreme circumstances. The visiting side will look up to one of their fiercest and hard-nosed batsmen to deliver, who is under severe scrutiny once again.
