India vs. England : SPIN TO WIN || 2nd Test
India vs. England 2021
2nd Test – Sat, 13th February
Efficient England:
England dominated business in the first Test and trounced India by a massive 227 runs. Skipper Joe Root led by exemplar with a remarkable double-hundred in the first innings. Though the visitors will be without Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer for the second Test, they have sufficient depth to do, devoid of the duo.
With Ben Stokes offering some much-necessary stability to the roster, England will fancy another victory at the Chepauk. He played a handy knock with quick runs and bowled a fantastic spell to get rid of Kohli.
Possible playing XI: Rory Burns, Ben Foakes (WK), Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Dominic Sibley, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Joe Root (C), Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali/Daniel Lawrence, and Chris Woakes/James Anderson.
Shambolic Indians:
India will be keen to get over their disheartening loss in the first Test. Virat Kohli’s captainship and Ajinkya Rahane’s form with the bat will be examined over the next few days. Axar Patel’s accessibility might bring a few alterations to the Indian bowling line-up.
With Washington Sundar and Ravi Ashwin starring in the previous game, they will be the key players in this game.
Possible playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar/Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and Jasprit Bumrah.
The venue, Pitch Report, and Toss Prediction:
The second Test between India and England will begin on 13th February Saturday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
There will be an abundant amount of turn on offer for the spin bowlers. While the wicket did help the speedsters with sideways movement off the pitch in the previous Test, the spin bowlers could come into effect as early as Day 2 of the second Test.
The reverse swing will yet again play a role, and the batters need to bide their time at the crease before hitting their shots as Root did in the first innings. The toss would play a decisive role in influencing the match’s consequence as neither team would want to chase in the fourth innings. Both sides will preferably want to bat first and make fair use of the situations, with the wicket projected to deteriorate as the match continues.
Toss Will Be Crucial:
Although both sides look evenly fitted on paper, India might hold the upper hand, given the kind of surface. But England is in fluent form and will be high on belief after displaying three successive victories in Asia.
With a place in the World Test Championship final also up for snatches, an exciting game of Test match cricket summons in Chennai. The home team will start as the favourites despite losing the previous game, at the OK odds of 1.62. In contrast, the visitors are placed at 3.90.
No wonder these odds look deceptive owing to the recent form and match outcomes. Hence, we reckon that placing bets after the toss could be wise, as the toss will play a crucial role.
