England vs India, 2018: England's predicted XI for 2nd Test
We had a excellent start to the series with an encounter that was filled with joy, anxiety, restlessness, and many more emotions that can't be described. The first Test between England and India played at Edgbaston in Birmingham turned out to be one of the closest fought encounters with the hosts descending visitors by a mere margin of 31 runs.
Now, we head to the iconic Lord's Ground in London for the second battle in the straw. The Lord's Test (9 - 13 August) is expected to be a hell of an encounter.
ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) has announced a strong 13-member squad for the second Test against India. Thus, let us have a look at the predicted playing XI for England for the second Test against India.
England 2nd Test Squad: Joe Root (C), Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow (WK), Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Adil Rashid, Sam Curran, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, and James Porter.
Openers: Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings
Alastair Cook, the former England captain, had an unfortunate start to the series as he barely managed to play Ashwin. Cook ended up getting bowled twice in the similar fashion off Ashwin's off-spin that escaped Cook outside edge and hit the top of the stumps on both the occasions. However, England is likely to persist with Cook after having announced no reserve opener in the second Test squad.
The left-handed prodigy, Keaton Jennings, will be accompanying Cook in the opening slot for the second Test against India. Jennings had a more or less decent first Test as he scored 42 and 8 in the 1st and 2nd innings respectively. Although he looked good in the 2nd innings, he failed to capitalize and fell prey to a flighted delivery by Ashwin that edged his bat through to KL Rahul at 2nd slip.
Thus, the Englishmen are unlikely to change the opening tempo and will be proceeding with Cook and Jennings as their openers in the second Test against India.