England V India Test Match Series 2021

I'll assume that Anderson is unfit, if he does play, England could be taking a big gamble if he breaks down mid-Test. I'll have a go at selecting a side from the remaining squad players. Biggest issue for me is which of the out of form batsmen do I give another chance ? The bowlers pick themselves, England will more than likely stick with Sam Curran, But I want a genuine wicket taker in my 4 man seam attack or at least someone who can keep it tight, I'm not sure Curran can do either job against the India batting line-up, he was the last option to bowl throughout the last Test, it's not enough to slog 20 or 30 runs in each innings. Wood & Mahmood are good wicket taking options. Saqib has also improved his accuracy in recent times. Robinson can bowl tight & pick up wickets. Craig Overton is a consistent performer with the ball. Mahmood is a shoe-in to take the new ball, Wood has done it for Durham this year, but rarely for England, Overton & Robinson are regular opening bowlers, I might give give it to Overton.
With some reluctance, I will have to chance the only thing that is working with the batting, & shift Root to 3. The same applies with my team for the 1st Test, & with evidence to back me up. Let Buttler concentrate on his batting & give the gloves back to Jonny.

Boomers 2nd Test XI
Burns
Hameed
Root ©
Pope
Bairstow (w)
Buttler
Ali
C Overton
Robinson
Wood
Mahmood

2nd Test Lords
England won the toss & elected to bowl.

England make 3 changes, Crawley, Lawrence, & Broad are out with Hameed, Ali & Wood coming in. India bring in Ishant Sharma, to replace the injured Thakur.

A brave decision to bat, but this is what they should've done at Trent Bridge, this is more of a 50/50 call. let's hope Anderson is ok.

India on top - 100-0 (33 overs)

Before the series, even with Stokes, Woakes, & Archer, I always thought India would be too strong, but given the available players, don't compound the situation by poor selection coupled with bad tactics. Root has won the toss on both occasions, & taken the wrong choice each time.

Is it Root's decision what to do or is it the managers.

Because there seem to be a lot of bad decisions being made

Tea - India 157-2 (52 overs)

(12-08-2021 15:23 )Charlemagne Wrote:  Is it Root's decision what to do or is it the managers.

Because there seem to be a lot of bad decisions being made

He'll get advice, from the coaches & stats men, but ultimately, it's his call.

England ended the day 119-3. Root's is not out on 48.

A decent fightback for England, first with the ball, as India could only add a further 88 runs for their last 7 wickets, & then with the bat as Root came to the crease facing a hat-trick ball after Sibley went early after tea, followed by Hameed, who missed a straight ball. Together with Burns the captain added 85 runs, until Burns fell for 49 & India are still 245 runs ahead.

2nd Test Lords Day 3 Close
India 364
England 391 Root 180 no Bairstow 57 Siraj 4-94 Sharma 3-69
England lead by 27 runs