India vs England, 2nd Test: 5 Talking points from Day 2
Star English pacer James Anderson led the England team’s bowling attack as he ended with the figure of 5 for 20 in 13.2 overs.
Sneha Singh | August 11, 2018 12:50 pm
The second Test match of the five-match series between India and England started on the second day as rain washed out the first day’s game. The match is being played at the iconic Lord’s stadium.
Even on the second day of the second Test match, the spectators wondered for a brief moment if rain was once again going to be the only talking point of the day. However, much to the delight of the British audience, the rain stopped and their side bowled out the visitors at the score of 107 just in 36 overs.
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Star English pacer James Anderson led the England team’s bowling attack as he ended with the figure of 5 for 20 in 13.2 overs.
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Here are the five talking points from Day 2 of the second Test:
1- James Anderson wreaked havoc
Star England pacer James Anderson on Saturday wreaked havoc on Indian batters as the visitors were bowled out at a total of 107 after the 36-year-old English speedster’s five-wicket haul.
Anderson is number one bowler in ICC Test ranking and he showed the spectators why he is often regarded as the swing king. On the second day of the match, the condition at Lord’s was suitable for the swinging ball and there are very few harder bowlers to play than Anderson when it comes to swinging.
James Anderson, in the first innings of the second Test, bowled immaculate line and coupled it with late swing to make it impossible for the batsmen to handle the bowl. However, if India wishes to be in the contest to win the second Test, they need to learn how to counter Jimmy Anderson.
2- Virat Kohli and his dilemma with team selection
Indian skipper Virat Kohli altered the team once again. If one would closely track Virat Kohli captaincy, they will see it does not matter what was the result of the previous game, he will do some changes in his team for the next.
On Friday, it was the 37th time in a row, that he changed the playing XI. In the second Test match against England, Virat Kohli brought Cheteshwar Pujara in place of opener Shikhar Dhawan, and KL Rahul was promoted to the opening slot from number three. Kuldeep Yadav was included ahead of the pacer, Umesh Yadav.
However, on the second day, Lord’s assisted fast bowlers after the rain as James Anderson ended with the fifer and Chris Woakes bagged two wickets, it would be interesting to see whether bringing in left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav in place of Umesh Yadav was a right call or wrong.
3- Indian batters failed again
On Friday, during the first inning of the second Test match, the third time in a row Indian batting line-up collapsed against England’s pace attack. The way Indians batted at the Lord’s cricket ground it was quite similar to the first Test match when Sam Curran and Ben Stokes wreaked havoc. The only difference between Friday’s condition and the first Test was Virat Kohli stood out and dragged India to a fighting total — 274 for 10 in first innings. However, in the second Test, the conditions were even worse with the pitch assisting the pace bowlers. And the way they failed to counter their attack, it felt as if the Indian cricketers were school children who were up against college boys.
4- Chesteswar Pujara’s forgettable day
India’s Test specialist Chesteshwar Pujara had returned to India’s playing XI after getting dropped in the first Test. However, even in the second Test, he had a very unlucky day as he lost his wicket because of skipper Virat Kohli’s mistake.
India were two wickets down when the rain started. After some time, it stopped again when Chesteshwar Pujara along with Virat Kohli took charge of visitors innings. In the 9th over of the game, a misunderstanding between Pujara and Kohli cost the 30-year-old his wicket.
Here is the video of the incident:
VIDEO: Cheteshwar Pujara run out after mix-up with Virat Kohli.
The viewers witnessed a rare occurrence in the second Test match as both skippers Virat Kohli and Joe Root opted two different paths for their team selection.
While English skipper Joe Root went with four pace bowlers — James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran — his counterpart Virat Kohli went with two prime pace bowlers — Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, two spinners Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin and one all-rounder Hardik Pandya, who is also a medium pace bowler.
Now, after the end of the second day’s game, it is clear that the pitch is supporting the pace bowlers, so it would be interesting to see how R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav will be used.
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