The hurt unlocker?

Visakhapatnam, February 1

An under-pressure and under-resourced India will need to think out of the box to counter England’s fearless bunch of Bazballers in the second Test beginning here tomorrow.

India are seldom stretched at home but following a dramatic loss in Hyderabad, they have plenty to ponder and the absence of injured Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul has made their task tougher.

Three years ago, the mighty hosts found themselves in a similar situation having lost the opening Test to England at Chennai but bounced back to win the series.

However, the Joe Root-led side was a different breed then and this time India plan to fight back against a team that has redefined the way Test cricket is played and defied all probability to win the series opener after conceding a 190-run lead on a turning track.

Wicketkeeper Srikar Bharat, however, was confident India could level the series. “Credit where it’s due, they deserved to win (in Hyderabad),” the stumper said today. “But we have bounced back previously as well so yeah, looking forward to this next challenge.”

England batters, led by Ollie Pope, swept and reverse swept their way to success in the first Test, taking Rohit Sharma and his bunch by surprise, while making the most potent spin trio in the world look ordinary.

“The combination that Ben (Duckett) and Zak (Crawley) have had for us at the top since they’ve become a partnership has been incredible. The way in which they set the tone for everybody else but also they way they put the bowlers under a serious amount of pressure with a new ball,” England captain Ben Stokes said.

India won’t have the luxury of fielding Jadeja in this game but Ashwin, four shy of the 500-wicket milestone in Tests, and Axar will need to redraw their plans to come back hard at England who are sure to employ the sweeping tactics irrespective of the conditions.

Left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav is expected to play in Jadeja’s absence and it remains to be seen if India go in with only one pacer in Jasprit Bumrah and play another spinner, possibly off-spinning all-rounder Washington Sundar.

Not just India’s lethal spinners were tested against Bazball, their batters’ struggles on turning tracks also came to the fore as left-arm spinner Tom Hartley transformed a seemingly forgettable debut into a match-winning one.

Rohit, perhaps, was the only frontline batter who looked assured in the second innings while the young brigade comprising of Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer were guilty of playing the turning ball with hard hands.

The ACA-VDCA stadium has staged two Tests till date and the pitch usually favours the batters in the first innings.

Bashir, Anderson in

Shoaib Bashir will make his delayed Test debut tomorrow, while veteran James Anderson will replace Mark Wood as England’s lone fast bowler, Stokes said.

Off-spinner Bashir missed the opening Test in Hyderabad — where England registered one of their greatest away wins — following a visa delay.

The 20-year-old replaces Somerset teammate Jack Leach, who hurt his left knee while fielding in Hyderabad.

“The forced change, Bash coming in for Leachy, was a simple one: one spinner out, one spinner in,” Stokes said today. “He (Bashir) looked very excited.”

Anderson will be playing his 184th Test and Stokes said the 41-year-old’s experience would come in handy as England bid to end India’s record of not losing a Test series at home since 2012.

“Bringing Jimmy in, we just feel like there’s a bit more I can turn to him for,” Stokes said. “Not only his new ball skills — reverse skills, his off-cutter skills and stuff like that.” — Agencies

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