Birmingham: India will need to shed their conservative selection approach and give themselves the best chance to take 20 wickets on what is expected to be another batting surface in the second Test against England, beginning here on Wednesday.
By the team management’s own admission, India missed a specialist bowler at Leeds, Kuldeep Yadav to be specific, as England comfortably chased down a record 371 on day five of a game that the visitors should have won.
In the words of assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate, India are grappling to find a team combination that doesn’t compromise on batting depth and yet has the bowlers to take 20 wickets.
“In terms of managing the strategy there, we’re looking at each bowler individually, feeling what we feel they can get wickets-wise. And then it’s just trying to balance up and trying to calculate as best you can what the best chance of getting into the Test match.
“But you need 20 wickets. So the attacking party is obviously finding someone who can get wickets as well. And we are grappling with that. We don’t stop talking about that. We’re trying to figure it out,” Doeschate admitted.
The weather has been rather hot in Birmingham and the surface, bound by a decent covering of grass, is dry underneath.
On this very ground three years ago, England had gunned down a daunting 378 with ridiculous ease to draw the series. Of late, the same 22 yards have offered plenty of runs to the batters in county cricket.
The spinners will eventually come into the game and India need to decide whether they want someone like Washington Sundar who can assist Ravindra Jadeja or get Kuldeep, who is a much better wicket-taking option.
But what is confirmed is that India will go in with two spinners.
Shardul Thakur was the fast bowling all-rounder at Leeds but there is a strong possibility that batting all-rounder Nitish Reddy starts on Wednesday.
Thakur did not have the best of outings but dropping him after one opportunity would be borderline harsh on him.
Will Bumrah play?
The question mark ahead of the game is over Jasprit Bumrah’s availability.
Skipper Shubman Gill said a decision on his lead pacer will be taken only after taking a look at the pitch.
However, Gill said Bumrah is available for selection.
“Bumrah is definitely available. We are just going to see how to manage his workload in the upcoming Test matches. We are trying to find the right combination where we can take 20 wickets and score runs as well on these kind of wickets.
“We just thought we are going to have a final look once we come to the ground and see what kind of combination that we want to go with tomorrow,” said Gill in the pre-match press conference.
If Bumrah indeed doesn’t play the second of his decided quota of three Tests, the pace line-up is expected to be Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna.
With Bumrah hard to handle at the other end, the other pacers did not have the required consistency in their lengths to test England batters.
They would be wiser after that experience and if Bumrah doesn’t play, will have a lot to prove.
Jadeja, who could not get much out of a turning pitch on day five at Headingley, would be eager to make an impact too.
India’s catching would have to be a lot better after the horror show at Leeds, costing Yashasvi Jaiswal his spot in the slip cordon.
The batting department has a settled look though India would be desperate to add runs late in the innings after two lower-order collapses that cost them dearly.
The likes of K L Rahul, Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant and captain Shubman Gill would be aiming to build on the gains made in the series opener.
Rookie Sai Sudharsan and comeback man Karun Nair are certain to get another opportunity after an underwhelming start to the series.
England, on the other hand, seem to have added a method to their madness with a refined ‘Bazball’ approach that gives due respect to the conditions and the bowler.
Expected to make a comeback, Jofra Archer has pulled out of the match due to a family emergency but the Chris Woakes-led pace attack would be high on confidence, having cleaned up India’s tail twice and allowing the hosts to make a comeback in the contest.
Being a home hero, Woakes would be expected to provide the breakthroughs with the new ball after low returns in Leeds. Josh Tongue would be sniffing blood against India’s fragile lower-order.
Brydon Carse also improved as the game progressed while skipper Ben Stokes, by far, got the most out of the conditions.
Sporting wickets have also aided England’s aggressive style of batting and that trend is set to continue.
Squads:
England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
India: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.
