Verdant Visakhapatnam does not look the place to recall England’s record wicket-taker given the third Test in Mohali starts so soon afterwards, and the spinners are finding their rhythmFor the second match in succession England will play on a new Test ground and that brings many virtues. Here on the outskirts of a city that sits alongside the Bay of Bengal is a stadium that has been polished for the grand occasion.Beyond the neat, symmetrical stands, the verdant, tree-lined hills rise up spectacularly. We might be in Pallekele just outside Kandy or somewhere leafy in the Caribbean. The practice facilities are spacious and of the highest quality, just as they were in Rajkot, while the rest of the grassland outside...
Home side often open a Test series with one of their ‘sporting’ wickets and catch the unaware tourists by surprise, but battle-hardened England were more than their match in RajkotThe first Test ended in a draw, only a draw, yet England’s performance in Rajkot has provoked many superlatives. Should the gnarled old pros among us douse any elation despite the dire post-Dhaka prognostications? No, the superlatives were justified, though they guarantee nothing as England arrive at their beachside hotel in Visakhapatnam, where one assumes there can only be extra-thick sticks of rock.A dip into the past suggests why. On England’s previous seven visits to India they have lost the first Test six times. The only exception has a parallel with...
Jimmy Anderson may struggle to displace England’s in-form bowlers while India need to call time on struggling Gautam GambhirJimmy Anderson says he is fit and appears keen to play in the second Test in Visakhapatnam – although he did not appear to mention the venue by name. This alone raises questions: even if the selectors decide it’s not worth it then leaving out England’s record wicket-taker is a decision they will have to justify. And if Anderson does come into the team, who drops out? Stuart Broad, the other senior bowler, was rested only one Test ago. Dropping either of the other two seamers, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes, not only means leaving out an in-form player but weakens a...
The 19-year-old opener compiled an unbeaten half-century on debut but it was the manner in which he did it that suggested Cook’s latest opening partner might be here to stayAlastair Cook described Haseeb Hameed as unflappable when announcing the 19-year-old’s Test debut would come in Rajkot but it is pretty safe to assume he did not envisage his new opening partner to be the type that launches straight sixes early on in potentially perilous situations.But just six overs into England’s second innings on the fourth day, with a session to negotiate and a lead of 49 to bolster, the right-hander decided the aerial route represented a viable response to the left-arm spin of Ravi Jadeja and duly danced down the...
The willowy paceman will succeed on England’s tour to India simply because the big moments just happen to a man who has never enjoyed the same adulation as Jimmy AndersonFrom a purely fun point of view it has always seemed a bit of a shame Stuart Broad didn’t end up making it as a top-order batsman, which was the plan coming through the age groups, right up until the moment he started eating ravenously and grew almost a foot in his eighteenth year. Related: Stuart Broad says England’s Test series in India will be toughest of his career Related: England’s Stuart Broad hails Bangladesh Test as one of the very best Continue reading...