Visakhapatnam: After finishing second best to the England spinners in the England-dominated drawn game at Rajkot, the hosts’ spinners will definitely seek redemption when the second Test gets underway here Thursday at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium. With the curator already warning that the pitch will turn from day two onwards, India will hope that their spinners come to the party after an insipid display during the first Test.
England, have proved that they are no pushovers. And with skipper and opener Alastair Cook regaining his form, India definitely will have a lot to worry about. Joe Root and Haseeb Hameed along with Ben Stokes have proved that they have it in them to put the home spinners to the sword and must have been giving sleepless nights to Indian skipper Virat Kohli.
India had to play out of their skin to save the first Test and the positives that they can take from the game is the way the team shaped up in a situation they are not at all used to while playing at home. But then at the same time, the batsmen’s inability to handle the likes of Adil Rashid must have forced Kohli to rethink his strategy.
Both Rashid and Moeen Ali are not in the same category as their counterparts Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann who created havoc in Indian ranks on the turners at Mumbai and Kolkata four seasons back. But Rashid and Ali are very useful bowlers with a few aces up their sleeves which trumped the Indian batters at Rajkot. The likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha and Ravindra Jadeja along with their skipper would have to work out a strategy to counter England’s spin threat.
Jadeja bowled well at Rajkot, but it was Ashwin’s failure with the ball that surprised all. The Indian spinners conceded 521 runs at Rajkot for nine England scalps and they have to improve substantially if they have to put the tourists on the backfoot. England bat very deep with even Stuart Broad having a Test century. Against such a batting line-up, the likes of Ashwin and Jadeja will really have to be at their very best.
The return of KL Rahul will definitely be a huge boost to the Indian batting at the top of the order. But then Kohli faces a tricky situation with Amit Mishra – whether to retain the leg-spinner or whether to replace him with either Karun Nair or Hardik Pandya – both of whom are new to the grind of Test cricket. Cook also faces a similar predicament as to whether bring in James Anderson in place of Chris Woakes. England’s highest Test wicket-taker has been out of competitive cricket since August and to throw him in the cauldron right away could backfire.
More importantly however, India will have to take the catches that come their way. There will be plenty for the close catchers with the pitch offering turn and bounce and it is imperative that India take them. Otherwise the likes of Cook, Root, Ali, Stokes and other will punish the hosts. No doubt about that.
But at the outset another cracker on the cards.
Catches win matches, reminds skipper kohli
After the drawn first Test where Indian batting came under scrutiny in the second innings, Rahul was pulled out of an ongoing Ranji Trophy match against Rajasthan to be brought into the Indian team.
With Rahul becoming an automatic choice, it seems to be curtains for senior pro Gambhir who made a Test comeback after more than two years.
“We had it pretty clear in our heads that KL is our number one choice alongwith M Vijay. He is fit at any stage, he comes back into the team and we are going to start with him. Be it pulling him out of a first-class game in between. It’s within the rules and the regulations,” Kohli told a news conference on the eve of the second Test.
“We were waiting for him to recover as soon as possible. That’s how the team combinations go, you go with what you think is the best for the team. Don’t think we needed to think any differently to call back Rahul. We are glad that he’s back in the side again. That was the whole idea behind it.”
Kohli said they are not concerned about skill or the conditions but it’s their sloppy fielding which separated both the teams.
Cook banks on tweakers
English captain Alastair Cook is confident that his team’s inexperienced spinners will continue to trouble the highly rated Indian batting line-up in the second Test beginning here Thursday.
“If you continue in that level like in Rajkot then there is no reason why we can’t put pressure on Indian batting with our spinners,” the English captain said on the eve of second Test.
“Unfortunately we didn’t quite get over the line but we start afresh 0-0 at the start of the second Test. And we are here to give India a run for their money.” Showering praise on the spin trio, he said, “They bowled excellently as a group of three spinners. Everyone came to the party and they took a massive step forward from where they operated in Bangladesh.
“They can take a lot from that, we as a side can take a lot from that performance and credit to Saqlain coming in and giving those guys confidence to go out and play. They are inexperienced in these conditions but they took a big step forward and it’s great to see that.”
Apart from the spin trio, the English have an edge with their bowling with a three-pronged pace attack in Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes.