England played their hearts out at Rajkot and Vizag but find themselves 1-0 down in the five-match series as we move to Mohali, the venue of the third Test of the series.
After a disastrous Bangladesh trip, England were expected to be mere pushovers for an Indian juggernaut, cruising on the good form of Virat Kohli and R Ashwin. But England managed to find the fight in them and put up an admirable display at Rajkot to ensure a draw.
They showed determination to survive at Vizag, bowling well and battling hard to save the Test in the second innings. But they found themselves falling short after Kohli and Pujara had put India on a perch with a fine partnership.
England arrive at Mohali knowing they have to put up a good show but also aware that a loss would result in them being pushed further back. But they have been excellent so far and a few tactical changes might see them trump India at Mohali. Let us take a look at some of the ways they can comeback in this series.
#5 Utilise the conditions in Mohali
Mohali is believed to be one of those rare venues in India which favours fast bowlers a touch. Though a good batting track traditionally, seamers have found movement and troubled batsmen early on.
What England have is a group of well experienced, top quality fast bowlers. In Anderson, they have the perfect bowler to exploit the conditions and if he can get two at the top, it will put pressure on the Indian batting line-up. Broad and Woakes should also get to play here, unless Broad is ruled out due to injury.
If the trio of seamers are fit enough, Mohali could be the turning point for England in this series. In Moeen Ali, they have a good containing spinner to complement their array of seamers.
#4 Cook, Hameed and Root
England's top order has been doing the bulk of the scoring, and most of the scores off the bat have come from Cook, young Hameed and the exceptional Root. The trio forms the key for England.
While India's seamers have been very good, the three should ensure that they do not lose wickets to Indian seamers. The three are the best players of spin in the side, along with Stokes, and if they can stay put till Ashwin and Jadeja are on, India will be forced to try hard to get wickets.
Hameed has often proved to be difficult to break, like Cook, but needs to convert his starts in the first two Tests. Root is the key and if he can buckle down and get a big one, England can pile up a good total.
#3 Get India out of their comfort zone
Possibly the only mistake England made right through the series is to let India remain in their comfort zone. While they tested India at Rajkot, they could not get Kohli out which meant India possibly knew they would escape with a draw.
In Vizag, they let Kohli and Pujara carry on a huge partnership and Cook did the mistake of letting the duo score freely by setting less wicket taking fields. They also looked under prepared against Shami and lost a few upfront allowing Ashwin and Jadeja a peek into England's middle order pretty early.
If they can put India out of their comfort zone by picking up Kohli and Pujara early and playing out their seamers without losing wickets up front, England are in with a golden chance of repeating their 2012 series win.
#2 The role of Moeen Ali
Moeen Ali was England's trump card when India toured England in 2014. He undid classy spin players on seaming wickets by restricting their scoring areas and bowling tight lines.
Surprisingly, Cook has resorted to Rashid more than Ali here, despite the former's tendency to bowl loose balls quite often. Ali, on the other hand, had looked like England's best spinner in Bangladesh and now again in India, but finds himself being underused.
He was brought on only in the 40th over by Cook at Vizag, a move criticised severely by critics. He should also replace Duckett at no.4, being a good player of spin bowling.
#1 Getting the team right
This might be the no.1 priority for England. While they have a good group of players, they haven't possibly fielded the best 11 yet, finding themselves making 1-2 bad selection choices more than once in the tour.
Ben Duckett is the most glaring inclusion in the line-up in Vizag, after he had proved in his previous three appearances in the sub-continent that he has no clue about playing spinners. While he is a great talent, he needs to learn to play spin better to remain in the Test team. He looks set to be dropped at Mohali with Butter set to replace him.
Another question for the English management to ponder is if they need three spinners at Mohali. Ansari could sit out this one and England could play an extra seamer or an extra batsman in his place. While their options are restricted, they could get Jake Ball in after his sensational spell in Bangladesh.
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