England shocked plenty of people to win the first Test of the four match series in India last week and that has added a real intensity and intrigue to the second Test which gets underway once again in Chennai on Saturday.
India will be looking to level up the series heading to Ahmedabad but England know if they can pull off another shock win here then they can secure a share of the spoils at the earliest opportunity. The series as a whole is nicely poised now but this match just as much.
India
I don’t know whether India took England lightly or if they just suffered a bit of a hangover after their win in Australia last month, but whatever it was they will know their performance in the first match was clearly not good enough. They will only have to think back to Australia to know that going 1-0 down in a four match series doesn’t have to be terminal but they are going to have to play their best cricket from here on in if they are going to win the series.
Injuries certainly didn’t help India in the first game of the series. Ravi Jadeja proved to be a big loss with the backup spinners just not able to cut the mustard at any point in the contest. That is going to have to change in this match or things could get very hairy for the home side. They could also do with a few more of their top order to find some runs, particularly in the first innings, else they could be chasing the series quite quickly.
England
It is very rare for a touring team to deliver a perfect performance first up but it is even more rare for England to do it. They are notoriously poor starters to a series so their display in the first Test was as much of a surprise as it was brilliant. The obvious requirement is to repeat that performance in this match but the reality of the situation is that they will not be able to live up to those heights. The closer they can get to it the better their chances of winning will be.
The big task for England will be to bat well in this match, particularly should their captain not fill his boots like he has done in the series to date. England always bat deep and here will be no different so they have the personnel to get the job done but whether they can do it is a different story. England look stronger in the spin department for this match which could be significant as the wicket is surely going to take some turn throughout this contest.
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Team News
India are set to make changes to their bowling attack with Axar Patel being confirmed as fit for the match. He is most likely to replace Shahbaz Nadeem and if they want to get Kuldeep Yadav into the side then Washington Sundar could be in trouble for his spot in the team.
England knew they were making changes before the series started as Jos Buttler was only ever playing the first Test. Ben Foakes will come in for him but they have since ruled out Jofra Archer, Jimmy Anderson and Dom Bess. We know Stuart Broad will replace Anderson and that Moeen Ali replaces Bess but it is between Chris Woakes and Olly Stone to come in for Archer.
Betting
I’ll go with one bet in this match which comes in the performance of Jack Leach where the line looks a little on the low side at 100.5 to me. This match is being played at the same ground as the first one so even if it isn’t the same wicket the pitch will have been under the baking hot sun for five days so I expect it to turn quicker than it did in the first game and turn sharper as well. I think that plays right into the hands of the Somerset spinner.
Leach will be used to performing in these conditions and after a decent first Test I expect him to gain confidence from the fact he is clearly the number one spinner in the side now. He ended up scoring 152 points with scoring coming with the bat, the ball and in the field in that opening match. That in itself makes me think the line here is a little low but when you factor in the pitch really should lend itself to spin even more here and that there is not the sublime skill of Jimmy Anderson on show, I expect Leach to get to 101pts over the five days.
Tips
WON – Back J.Leach’s Performance – Over 100.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betfair
Back him here:
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