Over to Lord's for 2nd Test
Team India suffered a bit of setback before the start of the second test, as Shardul Thakur is ruled out due to hamstring injury. This four pronged Indian pace attack was looking quite settled for the series , complimenting nicely each other. It was Shardul who had removed Joe Root on 64 in the first innings. Chipped in with 2 crucial wickets of England middle order in both innings. Ishant Sharma is most likely replacement or is it going to be R Ashwin ?To strengthen the lower order batting. Lot will depend on the state of the pitch. As for the batting openers slot is grabbed by K L Rahul. The recent form of dependable trio of Cheteshwar Pujara , Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane is bit of a concern for India. Rishabh Pant is always going to be bit inconsistent with the way he backs himself to bat in a fearless, aggressive way. Jadeja have raised expectations with his timely half century at Trent Bridge in first test.
As for England, the hosts received a big blow before start .Stuart Broad is ruled out of series with injury. England thinking to include Moeen Ali ,as the off spinner has got a very good record verses India.
So can India keep the momentum going. Especially in bowling department. Who bowled out England twice ,below 200 in the first innings to start with.20 wickets with a similar performance. India is hoping apart from better Middle order batting display. As for England too many batting worries to deal with. So far its a one man show with ever reliable classic Joe Root.
Let's hope for another intriguing test of Cricket skills ,temperament and skills , at the most talked about ground - Kashi / Makkah of Cricket Lords , London.
- Vivek Ketkar
Ishant Sharma, R Ashwin or Umesh Yadav
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