England players at ease ahead of the Lord's Test

Conditions are pretty chill out there in London today, with a slight drizzle helping to keep the weather cool but hampering match progress at the same time. Meanwhile, it is slightly heated up in the Indian camp, having had the fate of staring right at a humbling defeat after being on the cusp of victory in the first Test that concluded at Edgbaston, Birmingham last week. With four more Tests remaining, India needs to win at least two more games than its opponents to see an end-result happening in their favour. In short, much for Team India to ponder over right now.

The rains have been the cause for delay in toss so far, and though talks of abandoning the day's play haven't begun yet, chances of it happening may be of disadvantage to the Indian camp, as they might need all the available time to bounce back and produce a positive outcome. But that is not the case for the hosts - despite their rivals staging comebacks on Days 1, 2 and 3 of the first Test, they made the all-important return comeback on Day 4 to seal the game in their favour, and also obtain the important series lead. Now, even if all matches are abandoned or drawn, England are a single position up, and so they got nothing to lose anyways, at least as of the moment.

And that has been pretty evident from the way the side has been carrying themselves around, ahead of the game. For instance, take a look at this tweet by @EnglandCricket from a few hours ago:

Waking up on the first day of the Lord’s Test like... #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/Akwvo4pYkE

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 9, 2018

And this, from yesterday's practice:

Find someone who makes you smile like this... 😁 pic.twitter.com/GRVq4YSzza

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 8, 2018

We all know what happened with Jimmy Anderson as he replaced his Duke cricket balls with a golf ball, and how the ball reacted in return. But, well, all these sums up England's state of mind as they go ahead to face India in the Lord's starting today.

Joe Root has also given newbie Ollie Pope the chance to debut in Test Cricket, by naming him in the starting XI. Hopefully, Pope will be able to carry on the enormous boost he will be receiving, starting his international career in one of the most iconic venues that represent the sport, and take it forward throughout a lengthy career.