England were on a high after winning the first test in Chennai against India and taking a 1-0 series lead in the four match test series.
The second test was once again scheduled to take place in Chennai and England should have gone in with their winning squad from the first test and looked to go 2-0.
Cricket pundits over the years have held on to a belief that you never change a winning team, especially in test cricket.
The only reason you change a winning team is because someone is injured or has a personal situation that does not allow them to play.
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England decided to make changes to their playing XI for the second test because of their ‘rotation’ policy which has puzzled a lot of their ex-players and fans. James Anderson who is the most experienced fast bowler and proved his worth in the second innings of the first test was rested. Jofra Archer who played the first test also missed out but this was due to injury.
Dom Bess who picked up 5 wickets in the first test was left out and the experienced Jos Butler was sent home. So three of the changes were forced and one was out of injury and in retrospect, it definitely played a part in England losing to India by 317 runs.
There were a number of other factors involved in England losing the second test, but one has to ask questions over the strange rotation policy. England are expected to make more changes to their squad for the third test which is a D/N test in Ahmedabad.
We already know that Moeen Ali is not going to play as he has gone back to England. Captain Joe Root claims that it was Ali’s decision to leave India and return – a decision that sounds very strange.
England’s best chance to bounce back will be in the third test at Ahmedabad. England have the best swing bowler in the world in James Anderson and they need to unleash him during the D/N test which will allow Anderson to swing the pink ball.
England will also need their batsmen to be able to counter the spin of R Ashwin and A Patel who were very effective in Chennai. India are heavy betting favorites for the third test with odds of 8/15 while England are the underdogs at 3/1. The odds for a draw are at 5/1 courtesy of Bet365
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