The action from Edgbaston now shifts to the Home of Cricket, Lord's. Last time these two sides met here was back in 2014 tour. India won by 95 runs then.
Talking about the previous test England came out on top as they won by 31 runs. That was mainly highlighted by Sam Curran's all round performance and the Indian skipper Virat Kohli scoring 149 and 51 runs. Both the teams must have had their concern for how their batsmen fared against the moving ball.
Come the second test match both the sides would definitely look to improve their performance with the bat. But it will take a huge amount of intent and determination as pictures from the Lord's showed a pitch with fair amount of grass left on it. And so again pacers would definitely get the purchase from the wicket.
England would be missing the services of Ben Stokes owing to his court trial. Now it would be interesting to see who will come in as his replacement. Chris Woakes or Moeen Ali who are in the squad may take up the all-rounder duties for them. David Malan is no longer part of the squad and Ollie Pope has been named as replacement. The attention would be on how the batting order changes. Joe Root after reaching to his 50 more often than not fails to convert into a century. As a result that spices up the things on England's batting order, also added by the fact that their openers Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings don't seem to be in good touch.
India have their concerns as well. Besides Virat Kohli, no other batter could hardly score. Cheteshwar Pujara who wasn't named in the first test, is likely to replace either of Shikhar Dhawan or KL Rahul. According to Virat Kohli who mentioned in press conference that he may be tempted to go in with two spinners. Because he feels grass has been left in order to hold the pitch together.
England have not had a good record against the touring Asian countries since 2014. They lost two matches against Pakistan, one against India and drew two against Sri Lanka. Despite these, second test match at Lord's promises to be a thriller.
England team news: Ollie Pope is confirmed to be in the playing eleven. But they are uncertain on whom to choose between Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali as potential replacement for Ben Stokes. Considering dry nature of the pitch, Moeen Ali might be seen playing.
India team news: Cheteshwar Pujara is very likely to be included in the playing eleven. As a result, either of Shikhar Dhawan or KL Rahul would be dropped. If they decide to play two spinners, there will be a toss-up between Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja to pair up with Ashwin. There comes another question as to who will replace, because of the fact that only Ishant and Ashwin returned with good figures.
Date and Time: 9 August, 11 AM Local time, 15:30 IST.
Venue: Lord's, London.
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