England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes(w), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson
Ben Stokes:
Rohit Sharma: We'll bat first. Looks a good pitch, the pitch will do its thing, we need to play good cricket.
India have won the toss and have opted to bat
As expected, Shoaib Bashir has been given his Test cap.
Pitch Report:
08:43 Local Time, 03:13 GMT, 08:43 IST:
Don’t be surprised to see the ball turn from the first over here in Visakhapatnam. The visiting coach Brendon McCullum has already hinted at the prospect of playing four spinners in his XI. Team India haven’t lost back-to-back Test matches since 2012, and that was when a certain Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann wrecked havoc on pitches tailor-made to assist their strengths. Will this crop of Englishmen curb the Indian home dominance or will the hosts find a way to turn things around? Stick around for the toss and team news…
To further worsen India’s woes, they will miss the services of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja in this game. That has allowed a foot through the door for Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan, but also left the Indian batting unit extremely raw and untested, with Virat Kohli still unavailable for selection. The visitors will be able to call Shoaib Bashir after his paperwork has been sorted, and he is expected to be a straight swap for Jack Leach who hobbled off in the first Test with a knee issue. The old warhorse James Anderson is also waiting in the wings, and could get his chance here in Vizag.
Make no mistake, this isn’t the first time that India find themselves 1-0 down at the start of a home series, but the manner of the defeat should raise a few, discreet alarm bells. This defeat was the first time India have lost a home Test after having a lead of more than 100 runs in the first innings. They got beat at their own game, as the height and consequent unique release point of the left arm of Tom Hartley ran through India’s batting order, leaving them short by 28 runs while chasing 230 on a deteriorating pitch.
8:05 AM Local Time: Over the past decade and a half, team India have built almost an air of invincibility while playing Tests at home. Other countries have particular venues that they can call a ‘fortress’ (we’re looking at you, Gabba), but for India, anywhere on home turf is a fortress. Be it on the foothills of the Himalayas at Dharamshala, or the loose clay decks South of the country, team India have been extremely dominant in their home fortress. But for the first time, it seems like the fortress has been weakened by a compelling gust of British Bazball.
Preview by Kaushik Rangarajan
It might seem incredulous considering how often their home record is brought up but India have been here before: down on the scoreline going into a second Test. Five times in fact since 2000. But only the great Australian team of 2004 had the legs to see an early lead to a series win. That's how hard it is to keep throwing punches in these conditions without copping them back with interest.
Even in this decade of impregnability, India have found ways to overturn early deficits. In Bengaluru, they produced a clinic in attritional bowling. Four years later in Chennai, they went the other way and raged on a raging turner. And so, on to Vizag 2024, where the hosts will be out to convince the rest of the world that their facade is not in fact fraying and that they simply don't lose consecutive home Tests, well not since 2012 anyway.
But time is what it is and Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid now have to protect a proud record with a squad that has fewer Test runs than Joe Root and where Ravichandran Ashwin is both the highest wicket-taker and second-highest run and century maker. The captain-coach pair seek quick solutions while colliding head-on with a team that has spent the last 18 months running on an irresistible quantum of jeopardy and the last few weeks, sweeping any rotating red spherical object out of sight.
Lest it is lost in the afterglow, it is worth remembering that India were still India in Hyderabad, just a little less super-sharp. They led by 190 and had chances that they didn't take. In the end, they were done for by what was, in many ways, a knock for the ages. It'll be interesting to see how they play in the follow up. Imitation, however subtle, will both be a hat-tip and an acknowledgement of shedding inhibitions.
However, should they lose the toss again and find the pitch to be similar, India will ask for better control from their bowlers and more enterprise from their batters as well as the captain. For the second time in two years, Rohit has been properly challenged at home with the marker for the series, this time, laid down very early. What happens next is a tantalising prospect.
When: India vs England, 2nd Test, February 2-6, 09:30 IST; 04:00 GMT
Where: Dr. YSR ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam
What to expect: Spin, but not of the extreme kind. Last time when India went down to England in Chennai, they produced rank turners. But the absence of four all-time greats from the team might call for a more measured approach. This one is a black soil wicket with a smattering of dried grass to bind it. The two Tests played at this venue have been characterised by the slightly old-school, subcontinental slow burn progression before culminating in fifth-day jeopardy, which is how this one could also go unless the warmer temperatures aid faster disintegration.
Team News:
India
The hosts have several ways to go about making up for the double blow of losing KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja. It is certain that at least one of Rajat Patidar or Sarfaraz Khan will debut in the middle-order. The team management did their best to keep the identity and the number of debutants under wraps with both contenders batting even in the optional net session the day before the game. Both players are good against spin but Patidar might seem to be ahead in the pecking order by virtue of being called up to the squad earlier, to replace Virat Kohli.
There is also a remote possibility of India picking both if they are worried about their batting enough to sacrifice a fifth bowler - Mohammed Siraj did afterall bowl only 11 of the 166.4 overs India did in the last Test. If they do go the England way and play only one seamer, they can also play one of Patidar/Sarfaraz and Washington Sundar, who will give Rohit five bowling options (four spinners) as well as a left-handed batter for any matchup play.
On evidence of net sessions, Kuldeep Yadav is set to come back into the Test XI for the first time since Chattogram 2022, where, incidentally, he claimed a five-fer.
Jack Leach will miss the Test with a knee injury and tall off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, the visa issues behind him, will replace him in the XI. James Anderson was at his menacing best in the nets two days out from the game and has been picked as the sole seamer in the XI in place of Mark Wood.
Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson
Did you know?
- Ravichandran Ashwin needs four wickets to become the ninth bowler in Test history to take 500 wickets
- If he were to get the cap, only five other India batters will have had a higher first class average at debut than Sarfaraz Khan's 69.85
- The last three frontline spinners to debut for England - Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley - all claimed five-fers in their first Tests.
What they said:
"Could they have batted with more discipline? Maybe they could have. That's what they need to decide and come up with their plans. But, they need to score runs by playing their shots, as you need to back your strengths. Batting is always about scoring runs. It's not about not getting out but how many runs you put on the board." -Vikram Rathour on India's batting plans after a second-innings implosion in Hyderabad.
"Bringing Jimmy's experience, the class that he has, is great and I think it also goes under the radar how good his record in India is." - Ben Stokes is happy to welcome back one of the greats of the game, James Anderson, into his playing XI
Squads:
England Squad: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes(c), Ben Foakes(w), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, Daniel Lawrence, Gus Atkinson
India Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Rajat Patidar, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Sarfaraz Khan, Avesh Khan, Saurabh Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Dhruv Jurel
India
England
