After an even contest in the first Test, both teams shift their focus to Vishakhapatnam for the second Test. If an analysis of the first test is made, it will be seen that while it was India who needed to make England uncomfortable, found themselves struggling to save the test match. The India vs England test series has now truly started and over the next four test matches the contest will only get tougher.

England have the upper-hand

Both India and England as oppositions have got a feel of themselves in the first Test and will make the necessary adjustments coming into the second. England is the only team to win a series in India in the last decade and certainly among all the touring teams seems to have the best understanding of the conditions. They have the necessary arsenal in the players to perform according to the conditions and in Alastair Cook  they have a captain who is well versed with Indian conditions with this being his third tour of India.

India, on the other hand, have had some recent success at home where they recently whitewashed New Zealand in a three match Test series and South Africa previously in 2016 under the leadership of Virat Kohli. As the television commentators repeatedly pointed out that this was the first instance after a long period of time that a team had scored more than 500 runs in the first innings of a Test match  and managed to pressurise India.

Questions were thrown at the Indian bowling performance on conditions which were much more familiar to them than their opponents. But the real reason why England performed better than India in the first teat was because they were on top of the Indian bowlers, be it the pacers or the spinners and never really allowed anyone to settle down. They were aggressive and dominant in their approach to the game which was visible by the way they took the game to India.

In comparison England bowlers, especially the spinners were better than Indian bowlers. It was well witnessed on the final day, where they had a grip on the India batsmen having given them a target to win.

What to expect in the second Test

Coming into the second Test match, both teams will have measured the areas they need to work on and will accordingly work on those prospects.

As far as team news is concerned, England are still having doubts over James Anderson’s inclusion. Who is yet to regain full match fitness. He was seen fielding as a substitute in the first Test for a brief length of time but there is no certainty over his inclusion.  The rest of the squad looks to be in perfect blend and balance with two pacers and three spinners with Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes living up to their status as all-rounders.

For India, Gautam Gambhir’s comeback was not so fruitful as he scored 29 and 0 in the two innings. Being the senior most player in the side, he is likely to get another opportunity. Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara looked solid in the first test and will be expected to deliver in the second Test as well. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane forms the next two in the line up , both players who are capable of playing the long innings for India.

As far as the bowling department is concerned , it is expected that India will go in with three spinners and if Ishant Sharma is declared fit, either Umesh Yadav and Mohd Shami might be sacrificed. Another returning player could be KL Rahul, but where would he fit still remains a question unanswered.

Since the first Test ended in a close call it is expected that both teams have found out the way to execute a victory in the next Test.

Pitch and Conditions

Many predicted that England will have to play a lot of spin in the test series. Well, it has certainly started that way where spinners from both the sides have had a ball over a period of 5 days. The pitch, historically, has been known as a good batting wicket, but in recent times the curator has been preparing a spin friendly wicket. This has been significantly visible in some low-scoring games in the 2013-14 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium will make its international Test debut in the upcoming match.

Image Courtesy: Independent UK