London, August 11
Virat Kohli might have to seriously consider playing his best tweaker Ravichandran Ashwin instead of the injured Shardul Thakur but the Indian captain didn’t specify whether the seasoned off-spinner would get the nod ahead of a pacer in the second Test against England.
While India were in a better position to win the first Test before the heavens opened up on the final day, the first innings score of 278 was still below par as none among Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scored runs.
Not to forget that all three haven’t scored heavily in the past two years and save Rahane, who got a hundred in Melbourne, the other two batting mainstays haven’t been able to convert a lot of their half-centuries into three-figure marks.
“I don’t think that’s an area of concern. Our basic focus is not to think individually where people are but collectively how much strength they bring into the team. What’s your best and strongest batting unit that you can take to the park,” the skipper said.
As far as team combination is concerned, Shardul being ruled out with a “left hamstring injury” does tilt the lower-order batting balance, although the Mumbai seamer didn’t trouble the scorers in the only innings he played.
Ashwin, who was dropped from the playing XI in the drawn opening game in Nottingham because of Ravindra Jadeja’s superior skills with the willow, is back in the mix as Thakur seems to have done his hamstring some damage during the training session at the Lord’s on Monday.
It’s still not clear whether he picked up the injury during the first Test or not. With Thakur all but ruled out of the upcoming match starting tomorrow, Kohli might have to revisit his 4-1 bowling combination which can’t be cast in stone considering the lean nature of his team’s lower-order batting. “For us, it’s about finding that perfect balance but if someone like Shardul is not available, then we definitely need to think how to pick up 20 wickets and not try to plug in another guy, who can give us some runs with the bat. I think we are very comfortable how the first Test went,” Kohli gave an open-ended answer.
London has been recording a maximum temperature of 24 degrees with average temperature around 14 degrees. It would be interesting to see if England retain a green top like they did in 2018 when Indian batting collapsed twice in two days and all-rounder Chris Woakes walked away with the honours.
In case, the pitch is on the drier side, there will possibly be no harm in playing both Ashwin and Jadeja, who can trouble this brittle England batting line-up with their different variations.
The poor quality of the new generation of England Test players was exposed again as skipper Joe Root had come to his team’s rescue for the umpteenth time with a fifty in the first innings and a match-saving 21st Test hundred in the second essay.
There is every possibility that Rory Burns could be replaced by Haseeb Hameed, who scored a hundred opening the innings for the Combined Counties against Indians in the tour game last month. — PTI
Broad out of series
London: England seamer Stuart Broad will miss the remainder of the test series against India due to a tear in his right calf, the England and Wales Cricket Board said today. The 35-year-old underwent a scan after hurting his ankle during practice on Tuesday ahead of the second test at Lord’s. England have called up Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood, who could be in line to make his debut on Thursday, with James Anderson also a doubt due to a tight quad. Reuters
Slow over-rate: Eng, India docked points
London: England and India have been penalised two points each from their 2021-23 World Test Championship (WTC) tally for maintaining a slow over-rate in the first Test in Nottingham, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said today. The points deduction leaves both teams with two points apiece in the WTC standings. They have also been fined 40 per cent of their match fee, the governing body added. England and India drew the first Test at Trent Bridge last week after rain washed out the final day. Reuters