Big picture
First there was a rattle. Chaos followed. Then just silence for a while. But now a ragged, spine-tingling, expectations-defying Test series is ready to go again. India is clearly in the ascendant. He has shown skill and strength. He has shown hunger and deceit. They are dominating. They are tireless. And now he has a chance to create lasting history. Only once has the Indian team left the tour of England by winning more than one Test match. Virat Kohli and his men have not only Joe Root and his boys but also Kapil's Devils since 1986.
The current situation has as much to do with India's investment in Test cricket as England's deviation from it. Eoin Morgan has turned the one-day team into a monstrous entity. The batting sequence alone triggers feelings of being locked inside a haunted house. You're just about to catch your breath through one scary meander and poof, the other is already on you. It seems that Joe Root doesn't have that much resource capacity. However, after going down 1–0, England immediately called up the No. 1 ranked T20 batsman in the world with a Test match average of 27. It is clear that his chances in this series are tied to finding someone - anyone - who can stand alongside the captain, who looks unstoppable at the crease, and somehow helps him in the whole run-scoring business.
Players to watch
On this tour, Virat Kohli has shared the joy of victory, the confirmation of his strategy and the pride of leading a team that fought till the last second. One thing he hasn't liked so far is the thrill of scoring runs in big matches. In 2018, he had the aura of a gladiator and flowed the runs on the strength of his will. And while he hasn't stopped at all, it's been a while since he's played the kind of innings he's known for; That he has built a career around that.
Root is largely a superhero in this line-up. If he ever adds a G to his name and says the same three words over and over, Marvel may even try to sue. But while Groot can count on the Guardians of the Galaxy to help him when he's in trouble, the England captain has Jonny Bairstow, who is only getting back in form, Jos Buttler, who has heaps of potential, But that has yet to translate into consistent Test match performance, and Moeen Ali, who has been in and out. Headingley would be the perfect place for these senior players to stand up and be counted.
Team news
The biggest debate involving the England XI is the toss-up between Craig Overton - who can bowl a lot of overs and at the same time has the advantage of being a very good batsman - and Saqib Mahmood - who has an incredible white-ball heat and more. Presents a risk of taking wickets.
England (probable): 1 Rory Burns, 2 Haseeb Hameed, 3 David Malan, 4 Joe Root (c), 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Sam Curran, 9 Ollie Robinson, 10 Craig Overton / Saqib Mahmood, 11 James Anderson
India have little reason to tinker with a winning XI at Lord's, with all their players injury-free. But the pitch in Leeds is expected to be slow and Hanuma Vihari was seen fine-tuning his part-time offbreak on the eve of the match. So at the cost of a fast bowler, he may get a little chance.
India (Probable): 1 KL Rahul, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (captain), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), 7 Hanuma Vihari/Mohammed Shami, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Ishant Sharma, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammad Siraji
Pitch and conditions
While most surfaces in England are lean seamer-friendly, doubts are that it won't have much speed. Kohli even said that there was not that much grass on him in the pre-match press conference. The weather forecast for the test shows that it will remain largely dry for five days with cloud cover.
Stats
- Here is a simple example to show how India's fast has been growing recently. Five of the best 15 bowling averages as a team in a series have been set since 2018.
- Root has scored 1277 runs in 10 Tests this year. This is almost twice that of his nearest rival (Rohit Sharma with 690) and almost four times that of his next best teammate (Rory Burns 363).
Quotes
"There are three big games to play in the series. It's a lot to play and we look forward to a strong comeback"
England captain Joe Root
"I don't care about criticism. As I said, people only criticize important people"
India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane