India vs England: Rain unlikely to play spoilsport as Virat Kohli declares Shardul Thakur out
The second of the five test matches between India and England will be played at Lord’s London from August 12, Thursday. The two sides competed toe-to-toe before the fifth and final day of the Nottingham Test got washed out due to relentless rain on Sunday. Both teams shared four points each from the drawn fixture as the series remains 0-0 and will be eyeing a win at Lords to set the tone of the series.
After getting close to victory in the Nottingham Test, Virat Kohli-led India would like to take a lead with a win at Lord’s. The weather forecast looks promising for the first four days and we should have a good contest at hand for the next few days. Both the sides have been hit by injuries ahead of the second Test including Shardul Thakur, Stuart Broad. However, Thakur is expected to be fit before the third Test whereas Broad has been ruled out of the rest of the series.
Also, it is unclear whether James Anderson will be fit before the match or not. Anderson was the top-performer for England with the ball at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. England will have to play both Mark Wood and Saqib Mahmood. In addition, England may make a few changes to their batting lineup as well. Moeen Ali is expected to play at the Lord’s after a disappointing performance from the English batting lineup in the first Test barring skipper Joe Root.
Both teams will head to Lords a bit concerned over the form of their main batters. Barring, Joe Root who single-handedly saved the match with a fifty and a crucial hundred in the second innings none of the England batters looked comfortable against the four-seam attack of India whereas Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane looked off-color for the visitors.
“Shardul has a strain on the left hamstring. So, he is not available for selection for the 2nd Test. But he should be okay for the 3rd Test,” Virat Kohli said at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
India Playing XI for LORD’s TEST (LIKELY): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 KL Rahul, 3 Cheteshwar Pujuara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rishabh Pant (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin/Ishant Sharma, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj
