The tremors of 28-run defeat to England in the opening Test continue to haunt the Indian team as the caravan rolled into the port city of Visakhapatnam, also known as the ‘City of Destiny’, where Rohit Sharma’s men will look to turn the tide despite losing two key players, ahead of the second Test, starting Friday.
India’s insipid approach in Hyderabad allowed a smooth gateway to the Englishmen, willing to put everything on the line to go 1-0 up in the five-Test rubber. England’s gamble paid off, with Ollie Pope and debutant Tom Hartley delivering the goods. Having said that, the visitors will expect a very strong pushback from the home side when the action unfolds in Vizag.
Three years ago, the mighty hosts found themselves in a similar situation having lost the opening Test to England at Chennai but bounced back to win the series. But things have changed ever since as India will fight back against a team that has rebranded their Test cricket with an ultra-aggressive approach, and defied all probability to win the series opener after conceding a 190-run lead on a rank turner.
First things first, India will look to sort out their combination, after losing KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, both of whom scored in excess of 80, but were ruled out of the second game with injuries. With Virat Kohli already opting out of the first two matches, the onus will be on Rahul Dravid and Rohit Sharma to sort out the batting conundrum.
While batting coach Vikram Rathour, and earlier Dravid have backed the under-fire batters in Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer to get going, the two right-handers will have to rise to the occasion in the absence of Rahul, Kohli and Jadeja.
The 24-year-old Gill is desperately in need of runs, having scored 128 in India’s first innings against Australia in Ahmedabad last March, and since then his highest Test score at home has been an unbeaten 36. Gill has now gone without scoring a half century in his last 11 innings. Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble has questioned the team management over the handling of Gill, saying that “he has been given the cushion perhaps even a Cheteshwar Pujara didn’t get.”
Similarly, Iyer, who has featured in 13 Tests, too is under pressure of delivering a big score. Since the innings of 87 on a Mirpur dustbowl in December 2022 – he averages 14.55 with a highest score of 35. Both Dravid and Rathour have said that one needs to be patient with the young guns but at the same time pointed out that application is the key.
“There are young batters in our team who have not played much Test cricket. So we need to be patient with them. Batters like (Shubman) Gill, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and (Shreyas) Iyer will eventually start getting big runs, I’m sure of it,” Rathour said.
The equation also leaves India to choose new faces in Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan to fill Rahul’s vacancy, while it will be a toss-up between Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav to replace Jadeja. All-rounder Saurabh Kumar is another one in the list of new joinees ahead of the second Test.
Focus on sweeps
India’s training session in the Vizag nets was mostly about the reverse-and-conventional sweeps, the two shots which were missing in India’s arsenal as England spinners targeted them with a stump-to-stump line in Hyderabad.
All through the afternoon, every single batter, including Kuldeep Yadav, got the broom out. Under the supervision of Rathour and Dravid, Gill kept his focus on sweeping, and once swept Axar Patel so hard that the ball went out of the nets. Rohit batted only for about 10 minutes or so but that was enough for him to try a lap, a reverse and one superbly timed, hit-in-front-of-square slog sweep.
All eyes were glued to the new boys in the group — Patidar, in particular. He was called into the squad ahead of Sarfaraz as a replacement for Kohli. Hoping to catch the management’s eyes for a Test debut, Patidar, too, went for the sweep and reverse sweep, and moved forward or back decisively as he made it a point to meet the ball under his eyes.
Sarfaraz, another player who could make his India debut, was among the last to arrive at the nets and spent much of the afternoon with the skipper. He has been waiting in the wings for long, with stunning domestic performances that’s very hard to ignore.
Since 2020, he’s been averaging 84.42 in first-class cricket, and started his batting in the adjacent net. While Patidar’s was all about being nimble footed with his batting, Sarfaraz’s main weapon was about raw power, leaving the rest for the team management.
Bashir, Anderson confirmed in England XI
England skipper Ben Stokes has confirmed that frontline spinner Jack Leach will not be available for the second Test after failing to recover from a knee injury sustained during the first Test.
Leach hurt his knee fielding on the first day in Hyderabad, before exacerbating the issue on the second morning. Though restricted to short spells for the rest of the match, Leach managed to bowl 10 overs in the second innings and dismissed Shreyas Iyer.
“He’s ruled out of the second Test. Unfortunately, the knock he took resulted in a haematoma in his leg. It’s a big shame for us, a big shame for Jack, obviously after a long time out of the game with his back,” Stokes said.
“To sustain that injury, first game back, obviously it’s frustrating. But it’s something we’re assessing every day. The medical team have taken over that, and hopefully, it’s not something that’s too serious and keeps him out for longer in the series,” he added.
In Leach’s absence, his Somerset teammate Shoaib Bashir will make his Test debut on Friday. Bashir linked up with the squad mid-way through their 28-run victory in Hyderabad last week, after suffering complications with his India visa.
England also named a second change with veteran pacer James Anderson returning to the team as the lone seamer, in place of Mark Wood, who went wicketless in the same role at Hyderabad.
It will be Anderson’s 184th Test cap, and his first of 2024, and will spearhead one of the most lop-sided Test attacks ever fielded, with the rest of England’s specialist bowlers in a spin-heavy attack boasting a total of three Test caps.
The ACA-VDCA stadium in Vizag has staged two Tests to date and the pitch usually favours the batters in the first innings. It will be interesting to see how the pitch behaves as India seeks to draw parity against a confident England.