What India’s strategy should be to win the 2nd Test at Lords

The first match in the India-England Test series was nothing less than sensational. It was clearly a game of fluctuating fortunes, but at the end of the day, we were truly humbled to witness a game that went down to the wire. From India's point of view, the bowlers had given them ample amount of chances to come back into the game. Every time an English partnership looked threatening, the Indian bowlers came fighting to chip some vital wickets.

For India, if there is any form of heartbreak, then it has to be their batting collapse. Leaving Virat Kohli aside, all other Indian batsmen looked shaky to play in the English conditions. They clearly lacked quality footwork and their technique looked haywire and eventually their performance wasn’t at par with their bowlers. The only half-century and a fighting 100 in their side came from the willow of their skipper which gave them a fighting chance to win the Test match but as the pressure increased, India eventually lost the Test match by 31 runs.

With the next match scheduled to be played at the 'Mecca of Cricket,' Lords, from 9th August to 13th August, India is likely to make a strong statement to level the series. But before the 2nd Test begins, in this short window of time, the whole team needs to sit together and formulate a clear winning strategy to triumph over England.

India can fancy their chances as Lords as a venue tends to inspire tourists more than its host. As a matter of fact, Australia has won most matches of their Ashes series in this venue. At the same time, India can seek inspiration from their last tour of 2014, when they managed to a register a win at Lords by 95 runs. Ajinkya Rahane’s well-timed 100 and Ishant Sharma’s career-best spell of 7 for 74 stood as major highlights of the match.

The Lords wicket used to be a batting paradise in the initial years. Unlike drawn Test matches which used to be a trend in the 90s, this venue has yielded results in most Test matches played in the recent times. The infamous slope on the Lord’s wicket, which runs from the North end of the ground gives a lot of assistance to seam and swing bowlers. Maybe that is the reason why most teams tend to go with the combination of 3 seamers and 1 spinner in their bowling line-up. Teams winning the toss have always shown an inclination to bat first on this track and post a total on the board. As the wicket undergoes wear and tear in the first 3 days, batting on the 4th and 5th day gets increasingly difficult.

India must stick to the same bowling line-up which managed to take all 20 wickets of the English side. Since Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are already ruled out of the first three Tests, India doesn’t have many choices but stick to the same pace battery. Expectations would be running high on Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin after their clinical performance at Edgbaston.

Both players should give credit to their English county stint for taking so many wickets at the Edgbaston test. That leaves a big question mark on India’s batting line up. Will Cheteshwar Pujara play in the second test match after having a stint of 6 matches with Yorkshire? Averaging a little over 14, Pujara only managed to score 172 runs with a top score of 41 for his English county team. After a forgettable tour of South Africa and a score of 35 against Afghanistan, Pujara’s exclusion is certainly a topic of debate. Currently ranked at No. 6 in the ICC rankings, he is the only Indian to be featured in the top 10 along with his skipper Virat Kohli (No. 1)

The first innings lead is likely to hold the key. Given the nature of the Lords wicket, if Dhawan and Vijay commit themselves to proper technique, they can score some heavy runs on the top. Virat Kohli at no. 3 can play the sheet-anchor role and guide the entire batting unit to post a respectable lead on the board.

Pujara should be picked up ahead of KL Rahul to bat at no. 4. Rahane at no. 5 can be expected to continue from where he left Lords in 2014. Karthik, Pandya, Ashwin at no. 6, 7, and 8, followed by the tail, can add the much-needed depth to the Indian batting line-up.

A lot of thinking would go before the Indian think-tank shortlists their final eleven before the match. The Mecca of Cricket has given rise to a number of heroes. In 1996, it was Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid who scored hundreds on their debut series.

With no debuting batsman in the current line-up, Indian fans can only hope for some of the existing boys (barring Kohli) to play the big innings of their lives and emerge as India’s next big legend in the making. Is it time for KL Rahul or Ajinkya Rahane to redeem what had been long due for India after the dissolution of the 'Fab Five?'

A number of questions will be answered with the conclusion of the second test at Lords.