England vs India – 2nd Test Match Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is England vs India taking place? Thursday, August 12th, 2021 – 11:00 (UK)
Where is England vs India taking place? Lord’s, London
What is the expected weather for England vs India? 10-22c and dry with sunny intervals over the course of all five days.
What channel is England vs India on? The match will be televised live on Sky Sports
Where can I stream England vs India? The match can be streamed live via SkyGo
LAST MEETING
Match Drawn
THE TEAM NEWS
ENGLAND
- England’s batting once again proved their kryptonite in the first test, with only Joe Root making a hugely meaningful contribution, the England captain following up his 64 in the first innings with a magnificent 109 in the second innings to keep the hosts in with a chance of victory before rain wiped out the final day.
- In a bid to balance their side and bolster the batting in the process, England have recalled spin-bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali for the second test and he is expected to come straight into the team, possibly at the expense of Sam Curran.
- Batter Ollie Pope is also expected to be fit following a quad injury that kept him out of the first test and the Surrey star will likely replace Dan Lawrence, although bowler Stuart Broad is set to miss out through injury, with long-time bowling partner James Anderson doubtful and Lancashire's Saqib Mahmood has been called up to the squad as cover.
INDIA
- An excellent bowling performance from India found themselves in a situation where they needed 157 runs to win the first test with nine wickets remaining heading into Day 5 before the weather intervened, washing out the final day and ensuring a drawn test match.
- Batter Mayank Agarwal missed the first test after being hit in the head in the nets by a bouncer, but whilst he should be available for this second test India are expected to stick with KL Rahul at the top of the order after his excellent 84 in his side’s first innings.
- Virat Kohli’s side opted to play just one spin-bowler in the first test with Ravindra Jadeja given the nod over Ravichandran Ashwin and it would be no surprise if Ashwin was brought into the team for this match in place of the injured Shardul Thakur to play alongside Jadeja, who also contributed with the bat at Trent Bridge with a half-century.
THE PREDICTION
An enthralling, weather affected first test between England and India left us wanting more at the end with rain ultimately having the final say after the tourists set themselves up for a final day run chase, which they never got to execute. It does however, set things up beautifully for the second test at Lord’s, on a surface that always offers something for the quicker bowlers with appropriate cloud cover, not to mention spin as the match progresses. This may not bode well for England, who are once again proving almost solely reliant on their brilliant captain Joe Root to score the vast majority of their runs. The hosts are likely to make a number of team changes from the first test, which may not help their cause as much as they hope, as it can’t be easy to establish any consistency or understanding in terms of batting partnerships and even field placings. This can make a big difference, as shown by England’s dropped catches in the slips.
India’s quicker bowling was very impressive in the first test, led by the outstanding Jasprit Bumrah, off the back of a five-wicket haul in the England second innings. With the potential addition of Ashwin to the team, England’s fragile batting unit will be put under serious pressure once again. Another fairly low scoring encounter appears to be on the cards, but this time the weather shouldn’t interfere and India, who would have been confident of chasing down their 209-run victory target may well be able to finish the job this time and are to be favoured for victory here.
