IND vs ENG Strongest Playing 11 for 2nd Test, Who will play in place of injured KL Rahul?, How India Lost the 1st Test, Who Will Play?, IND vs ENG News, IND vs ENG Match Updates.
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IND vs ENG Strongest Playing 11 for 2nd Test – Who will play in place of injured KL Rahul?
No one expected India to lose the opening test of the five-match series against England in the way they did.
India, known for its domination at home, was exposed in front of the Bazball, owing to overconfidence or a lack of experience in the middle order.
The 28-run setback has raised many issues to be answered, but with so much action on the way, it is now time to look at what would be the strongest playing 11 for the second test against England, which begins February 2.
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How India lost the 1st Test?
India has always a tough opponent when it comes to playing at home. After the first three days of the test, the Indians had control of the match.
The Rohit Sharma-led restricted the Bazball team to 246 in first innings, and then posted 436 in their first innings to take a lead of 190 runs.
England were 163 for 5 at one stage in the second innings, but England turned the tables and took the lead. Ollie Pope was the game-changer in this encounter.
However, with Pope at 148 not out and the score at 316 for 6 at the end of the third day, the Indian side will have to prepare to remove him and the other batsmen in the initial part of the fourth day in order to trim the lead. But that didn’t happen, and England scored a further 104 runs, giving India a reasonable target of 231 runs.
The chase was not that big, but irresponsible batting by skipper Rohit Sharma, and the middle order failure, caused India the first test.
India’s dominance in Test cricket at home hits a low
India is known as one of the most competitive teams in world cricket, and the prospect of playing against India in India is enough to scare the opponents.
However, based on India’s recent home performances, the star-studded squad appears to be a club team competing against a well-prepared international team.
India’s most devastating setback in recent times occurred a few days ago, when they lost the first test against England by 28 runs in Hyderabad.
This is India’s second loss in three home test matches.
More significantly, India took a 100-plus lead in 106 home test matches, winning 70 and drawing 35, and their loss to Ben Stokes-led England was the first time they lost a test match at home despite leading by more than 100 runs.
Who should play in the 2nd Test against England?
The Indian management will face further challenges as experienced KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja are ruled out of the second test owing to injuries. With Virat Kohli unavailable for selection, the captain and coach would have a difficult time deciding on the strongest playing 11.
KL Rahul scored 86 runs in the first innings, and his importance grows even more when seasoned players like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are not in the side.
But now Rahul’s exclusion has left a spot to be filled.
Sarfraz Khan, who has an impressive first-class record, has been selected to the team. Rajat Patidar and Sourabh Kumar have also been called up.
Khan, who has scored nearly 4000 runs in 66 first-class matches at an average of nearly 70, is the front-runner to replace KL Rahul. Shubman Gill, who has failed to get fifty in the last ten test innings, could be replaced by Rajat Patidar.
India’s strongest 11 for 2nd Test against England
Rohit Sharma (c), Yashaswi Jaiswal, Rajat Patidar, Sarfaraz Khan, Shreyas Iyer, KS Bharat, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd Siraj or Washington Sundar
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