Second Test preview: India v England

Cricket365
November 16, 2016

The second Test between India and England will be played at Vizag, and will see the return of opener KL Rahul to the home side’s line up.

He was undercooked after injury for the Rajkot clash, and went away to score a domestic ton to earn a recall. As such, veteran batsman Gautam Gambhir is set to make way.

This will be a big boost for the hosts, as they are still without batsmen Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to compliment the efforts of Virat Kohli.

England are still pondering the return of paceman James Anderson, who has been out for a while due to injury, but is reportedly fit again.

Anderson’s return could get an extra push if Chris Woakes is not fit. The all-rounder has a bit of a ‘wear and tear’ niggle, and while he is said to be fine, they may rest him.

Jake Ball is on deck in case neither of the above are fit to play, while spinners Adil Rashid, Moeen Ali, and Zafar Ansari can be sure of their places.

Spin legend Saqlain Mushtaq has been helping England’s spinners on this tour, and Ansari has said it’s more a mental thing, rather than tinkering with techniques.

England are unlikely to make changes unless they have to, with teen opener Haseeb Hameed shining on debut in Rajkot, providing a bit of relief at the top of the order.

Last five head-to-head results

2016 First Test: Match drawn in Rajkot
2014 Fifth Test: England won by an innings and 244 runs at The Oval
2014 Fourth Test: England won by an innings and 54 runs in Manchester
2014 Third Test: England won by 266 runs in Southampton
2014 Second Test: India won by 95 runs at Lord’s

Squads

India: Virat Kohli (capt.), R Ashwin, Gautam Gambhir, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Shami, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Karun Nair, M Vijay, Umesh Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, KL Rahul

England: Alastair Cook, Moeen Ali, Zafar Ansari, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Gareth Batty, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Ben Duckett, Steve Finn, Haseeb Hameed, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes

Details

Dates: 17-21 November

Morning session: 09:30-11:30 (04:00-06:00 GMT)
Afternoon session: 12:10-14:10 (06:40-08:40 GMT)
Evening session: 14:30-17:00 (09:00-11:00 GMT)

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasean and Chris Gaffaney
Match referee: Rod Tucker