IND vs ENG: India and England are gearing up to take on each other for the second test match in the five-match Test Series at Visakhapatnam’s Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium. Scheduled from February 2nd to February 6th, the match will kick off at 9:30 a.m. IST. The series currently tilts in England’s favor after their comeback victory in the first test, which allowed them to secure a 1-0 lead.
In the initial encounter, England showcased a dominant Bazball approach, particularly excelling in the sweep and reverse sweep shots, which proved challenging for the Indian spin bowling unit. Despite India’s early control in the first two days, Ollie Pope’s outstanding performance (196 runs) and debutant Tom Hartley’s impressive figures (7-62) turned the tide in favor of the Three Lions, ultimately leading to their triumph under the leadership of Ben Stokes.
The Indian team, captained by Rohit Sharma, is undoubtedly disappointed with their first-test performance and aims to retaliate in the second match at Visakhapatnam. Eager to bounce back and level the series, the Men in Blue are focused on overcoming the challenges posed by England’s batting prowess and strengthening their strategy against the sweep shots that caused trouble in the initial encounter.
Talking about the visitor’s playing 11 for the second test match against the Men in Blue, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett are expected to open the innings against the hosts. Both of them performed really well in the first test match as they executed their bazball approach against the Indian bowling unit to perfection as both of them got involved in multiple 50-run partnerships in both innings of the first match,, which frustrated the Indians even more. The wicket of Vizag is expected to provide a lot of assistance to the spinners, so the openers need to execute their plans successfully if they want to get their team off to a good start in the second test.
The middle order will consist of Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Ben Foakes, and Jonny Bairstow. All of them played crucial roles in England’s victory in the first Test match. Skipper Ben Stokes played the role of a lone warrior in the first inning with an inning of 70 runs, which allowed the visitors to score 246 runs in their first inning.
Ollie Pope played the best inning of his life as he scored 196 runs in the second inning and just proved why he is rated so highly by the English management. Pope got good support from Ben Foakes and Rehan Ahmed, as the 26-year-old made full use of the sweep and reverse sweep shots and completely toyed with India’s spin advantage.
Jonny Bairstow was pretty decent with his knock of 37 runs in the first inning, but he managed to score just 10 runs in the second inning, so he would like to score some more runs in the second test match.
Joe Root wasn’t able to do a lot with the bat, but he flourished with the ball in hand as he picked up a four-run haul in the first inning and provided ample support to Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley.
The likes of Tom Hartley, Rehan Ahmed, Shoib Bashir, and James Anderson are expected to complete the bowling unit of the Three Lions. Tom Hartley had a horrible outing in the first inning as he picked up just 2 wickets and gave away 131 runs in 25 overs, but he showed his best in the second inning as he picked up a seven-wicket haul with figures of 7-62 next to his name—the third-best bowling figures by the bowler of an opposition team on his Test debut in India.
Shoib Bashir is likely to make his debut in the second test, as Jack Leach will miss out due to a knee injury he suffered in the first game while fielding. Rehan Ahmed looked pretty decent with the ball as he dismissed two batsmen, but he would like to bowl a little more economically in the Vizag test match.
Mark Wood played the role of the sole pacer for the Three Lions in the first test match against India at Hyderabad. But there are doubts regarding his participation in the second test match. Wood prefers to bowl short-pitched balls and does not prefer bowling with the new ball, so forcing the spinners to open the bowling with the new ball and bowling bouncers all the time on Indian spinning tracks is not a good option.
In the first test match, even though he was quite economical with the ball, he failed to pick up a single wicket in both innings. The English management might just replace Mark Wood with James Anderson, as the 41-year-old has the ability to do wonders with the ball on Indian spinning tracks, and he can trouble the Indian batters in the second test match.
England’s probable playing XI in the second Test against India
Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes (C), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes (WK), Shoib Bashir, Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, and Tom Hartley.
England’s squad against India for the five-match test series:
Ben Stokes (captain), Rehan Ahmed, Dan Lawrence, James Anderson, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow (wicketkeeper), Shoaib Bashir, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes, Tom Hartley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, and Mark Wood.
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