England v India: 2 imperative changes India should make to avoid a series defeat
After playing a match to be remembered at Edgbaston, England and India locked horns for the 2nd Test at Lord's. The hype for the match was sky-high due to the nail biting finish in the first test. Both teams couldn't have found a better place than 'The Home of Cricket' to start the second chapter of the high-voltage drama.
But the outcome of the second Test was completely unexpected, considering the competitiveness of both the teams. Without the services of Ben Stokes for the Lord's Test, England were perceived to be on back-foot. However, the same was nullified by the body blow India received in the form of Jasprit Bumrah's absence.
Both the teams made two changes in their playing XI- England opting for Ollie Pope and Chris Woakes in place of Dawid Malan and Ben Stokes; India chose Cheteshwar Pujara and Kuldeep Yadav as replacements for Shikhar Dhawan and Umesh Yadav.
The dryness of the pitch due to unusual heat wave was the talk of the town before the start of Test series. However showers in the days leading up to the test made it apt for seam movement. Day one was washed out due to a slight drizzle throughout the day. On Day two, after the toss, the Indian team were outplayed in all the departments throughout the match.
Though initially India struggled with play stopping and starting due to rain, the England bowlers completely outclassed the Indian team with some world-class swing bowling, led by James Anderson, who took another five-wicket haul at Lord's.
Being bundled out for 107, the Indian bowlers had the huge task of reducing the England team to a possible lower lead. Mohammed Shami's brilliant spell, which included three wickets, led a small comeback by India, reducing England to 131-5.
India's decision to include Kuldeep in place of Umesh completely backfired as India struggled without the services of a proper third seamer. Chris Woakes, played the best the innings of his life along with Jonny Bairstow, stitching a huge partnership of 189 runs to establish dominance over the Indian attack.
With a mammoth lead of 289 runs, England team decided to declare and went on to claim their second biggest win against India at Lord's (winning by an innings and 159 runs). Chris Woakes was rightfully given the Man of the Match award for 137 runs and 4 wickets for the match.
Having a scoreline of 2-0 against them, Virat Kohli and Co. will look upon to save their series at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Constant chopping and changing in the batting order has seriously affected the confidence of important players like Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane.
Hence, the team management is expected to make these two crucial changes ahead of the 3rd Test.
#1 Jasprit Bumrah in place of Kuldeep Yadav
India suffered during the ODI series without the services of their prime bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Though Bhuvi is not available for the third Test, Bumrah's addition to the side will be the perfect boost for the Indian team at Nottingham.
Bumrah was the pick of the tour for Indian team in the Test series against South Africa with 14 wickets in three matches. He was instrumental behind India's win at Johannesburg with a five-wicket haul in the 1st innings.
Bumrah will be key for India as Kuldeep's inclusion in the second Test backfired due to absence of a proper third seamer.
#2 Rishabh Pant in place of Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik's dismal run on the tour continued in the second Test, as he scored just one run in the match, raising his tally to just 21 runs at an average of 5.25 in four innings. Karthik looked completely clueless against the world-class bowling of the England seamers.
Rishabh Pant has the knack of scoring runs at a decent strike-rate in any format. With his hard-hitting ability, he can be the X-factor that team India require for the third match in the batting line-up.
In an unofficial test against England Lions, Pant scored twin fifties in the match, where senior players such as Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane struggled against a decent bowling line-up. Thus, Pant will be the apt replacement for Karthik.