England could have ended up losing the first test against India but rain washed out play on the final day and saved them. There was no rain to save them at Lord’s as their batsmen failed once again and saw them lose the second test by 151 runs. India now have a 1-0 lead in the five match test series.
This was a very close match that went down to the wire and India got the better of England in the final session.
At the start of the fifth day, England looked to have an edge as India were down to their last two wickets and the lead was still below 200. However a fantastic partnership between Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami made it difficult for England to secure a win.
The Indian bowlers had no trouble knocking over the English batsmen and while captain Joe Root did put up some resistance, the other batsmen once again failed. While it did go down to the final session, the scorecards tell a very telling story. England made 391 in the first innings but Joe Root scored 180 of those runs. Jonny Bairstow made 57 and Rory Burns made 49.
England & Wales Cricket Board
England have struggled in both test matches because their batsmen are struggling and it is only because of Joe Root’s batting have England managed to hang in there. If England are going to challenge India in the third test, they need more runs from the rest of the batsmen.
After two back-to-back test matches, both teams will have a break as the third test will start on August 25 in Leeds. England have a week to put their heads together and decide if they are going to stick with the same batting line-up or make some changes. England cannot afford to lose the third test as that will make it very difficult for them to bounce back and square the series.
England had earlier named their squad for the first two tests only and will now need to announce their squad for the remaining three tests. England should definitely drop Dom Sibley and maybe even Rory Burns even though he scored some runs in the first innings.
If they decide to persist with Haseeb Hameed they should get him to open with Jason Roy and bring in Dawid Malan at three. We will have to wait and see the squad England names for the rest of the series.
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