England vs India, 2nd Test: Four things India should fix before the second test
India and England lock horns in the second test of the five-match Test series at Lords on Thursday. Already 0-1 down in the series, India will know that they cannot slip up further if they want to win their first Test series in England since 2007.
After an embarrassing batting collapse in the second innings that saw Team India lose the first Test by 31 runs, the think-tank will have a number of issues to address before walking out at Lords.
With both spinners and fast bowlers working their magic in the first test, the onus will be on the batsmen to put up a better show than they did in the first test. All the batsmen except for captain Virat Kohli struggled in the seaming conditions and fell like nine pins.
This series provides a huge opportunity for Kohli and Co. to secure an away test series victory against a formidable opposition in a long time. Therefore, the following issues need to be resolved before Thursday:
#1 The Pujara conundrum
India dropped their first choice number three batsman in Cheteshwar Pujara for the more flamboyant KL Rahul for the first test. This move was made in order to accommodate both Shikhar Dhawan and Rahul in the side.
The move backfired spectacularly with both Dhawan and Rahul failing with the bat and the former spilling catches at crucial stages of the match. Therefore, Ravi Shastri and Kohli will have to take a call on Pujara for the second test.
Pujara, a natural test player, has of late failed to score runs for his county side Yorkshire and that might have tempted the management to go with the more attack-minded Dhawan and Rahul. The role of the openers and the number three in any test side is to see off the new ball with the minimum loss of wickets, thereby tiring out the opposition.
Pujara who is known for playing the waiting game early into his innings and capitalising later on in the day will come into reckoning if the Kohli decides to drop either Dhawan or Rahul for more stability.