India will have to show strength with the bat to achieve parity

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Visakhapatnam. India find themselves at a crossroads after a crushing 28-run defeat to England in Hyderabad, setting the stage for the crucial second Test starting on February 2 in Visakhapatnam. Ben Stokes’s England team is displaying an aggressive game. England came back from 190 runs down in the first innings to pull off a remarkable win, India’s fourth defeat in 47 home Test matches in 12 years.

Ollie Pope’s resilient century and Tom Hartley’s brilliant performance with the ball in the second innings tilted the scale in England’s favour. India’s costly drop of Pope further increased their struggles in the opening match of the series. Despite a late challenge, the hosts fell short of the challenging target of 231 runs, forcing captain Rohit Sharma to introspect.

Expressing disappointment, Rohit urged the team to learn quickly from mistakes and move forward. He acknowledged the team’s failure to show bravery and take chances with the bat and stressed the importance of learning from these experiences. On the contrary, Ben Stokes praised the excellent performance of his team, considering this victory as England’s biggest victory under his captaincy. Stokes expressed confidence in his team’s abilities for the remaining four Test matches and stressed the importance of motivating team members without fear of failure.

Both teams are preparing for the second Test after a four-day break, so India wants to level the series by improving its shortcomings. However, they are facing challenges due to injuries as Ravindra Jadeja and K.L. Rahul is out. Sarfaraz Khan, Saurabh Kumar and Washington Sundar have been included in the team.

The team management’s way of handling Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer has come under scrutiny. Gill, despite opting to be India’s No. 3, has struggled in recent innings, while Iyer’s spin-hitting ability has not translated into big scores. Rajat Patidar, revered for his fifty-plus scores in first-class cricket, could be handed his maiden Test cap, adding new dynamism to the Indian lineup.

Kuldeep Yadav, who was seen bowling in the nets on Wednesday evening, may get the match in place of Ravindra Jadeja. Kuldeep played his last Test in 2022 against Bangladesh in Chittagong in which he took five wickets and eight wickets overall.

With both Patidar and Washington included in the eleven, India could go with a single fast bowler bowling option. Siraj bowled only 11 overs out of 166.4 which shows Rohit’s confidence in Siraj With the turning track, Sundar can become the fourth bowling option in his place with his batting skills and the left-handed batsman can deal with the English off-spinners. Can become.

Jack Leach being out due to knee injury is a huge blow for England. Shoaib Bashir, who missed the opening Test due to visa delay, is in contention to make his debut.

Ravichandran Ashwin needs four wickets to become the ninth bowler in Test history to take 500 wickets.

If Sarfaraz Khan gets his debut cap on Friday, only five other India batsmen will have a higher first-class average than Sarfaraz Khan’s 69.85. The last three frontline spinners to make their debut for England – Will Jacks, Rehan Ahmed and Tom Hartley – all claimed five-wicket hauls on their debut Tests.

Probable XI:

India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Rajat Patidar, Axar Patel, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj/Washington Sundar.

England: Jack Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Fox (wk), Rehan Ahmed, Tom Hartley, Shoaib Bashir, James Anderson.

–IANS

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