Looks a good toss to have won, this one. Can’t help thinking back to 2016 when India did the same, Virat Kohli made 248 runs in the match and they won by 246. Gulp. No Kohli here, of course, but a big chance for India to get themselves back into the series. Will be interesting to see their approach, mind you ... a lot of sweeping/reverse sweeping in the nets before one, which is not a shot they typically go to ... has Bazball got in their heads?
I personally don’t see why it should have; hold their catches in Hyderabad, bat a bit better on the third morning, and they would have cruised to 1-0. Other memories of 2016 include a dog running on to the outfield, ahem, fertilising a spot by mid-wicket and an early tea being called with both Chesteshwar Pujara and Kohli in the nineties. Tried to find said pooch for an interview this week but no joy.
It feels like a 320 for three kind of day, doesn’t it. First-innings runs will be vital. Mind you, I said that last week.
This is a cracking stat from our sworn enemies friends at Cricinfo Joe Root (11,447) has more Test runs than the entire Indian team (10,336).
Ben Stokes said England would have batted as well. “New game, new week: we know India will come back hard.
India have made three changes: Rajit Patadar and Kuldeep Yadav come in for the injured KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja, while Mukesh Kumar replaces Mohammad Shami.
“Looks a good pitch,” says Rohit Sharma. “The pitch is gonna do its thing, we have to playh good cricket to win the game. We need to move on from Hyderabad – we’ve spoken about certain things, we batted well in the first innings but didn’t show the same intent in the second innings. We understand what went wrong and hopefully we can correct those mistakes.”
The pitch
So, will it be 2-0 or 1-1 after this Test? Well, it might be 1-0: the consensus in Vizag is that Dinesh Karthik is one handsome m- the pitch looks like a belter.
Don’t know what looks better, the pitch or DK. Both looking good 90 mins before play! pic.twitter.com/e7Kl8JVS0e
Rajat Patidar has been handed his Test cap by Zaheer Khan, so he will replace KL Rahul in the Indian side. He’s 30 years old, naturally aggressive – particularly against spin – and recently scored a mighty 151 against England A. In short, he can really play. Of course he can, he’s been picked by India FFS.
I remember being in Brisbane once during the Ashes… when Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen were about to resume England’s innings. Cook was in the zone and not really talking to anyone, but KP came over and we chatted for a couple of minutes. I told him I was about to go to Sri Lanka with England Lions and he said: “Oh, spin. You’ve just got to pick the length and that’s it.” And with that he put on his helmet and his gloves and went out to face Mitchell Johnson. I loved the certainty of that statement, and it has always stuck with me.
England announced their team yesterday, with Jimmy Anderson and Shoaib Bashir, 20, replacing Mark Wood and the injured Jack Leach. England’s four specialist bowlers have 186 Test caps between them:
Before the series Brendon McCullum called India “the land of opportunity”, and England have given themselves a helluvan opportunity to do something extraordinary. Even so early in a five-match series, this match feels like a biggie. Either England will go 2-0 up, something no team has done in India since Australia in 2004-05, or India will level the series and grab the momentum ahead of the return of Virat Kohli, Mohammad Shami, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul.
England may yet lose this series 4-1, and Hyderabad 2024 might be another red herring like Chennai 2021. Such trepidation is natural, given India’s irresistible brilliance at home over the past decade, but it’s mixed with tentative optimism that England could actually… no, we’re not ready to say it yet. Maybe if they go 2-0 up.