VISAKHAPATNAM: In a sense, the real test begins now and the can-do spirit of the Indian team under the cosh after their below-par show in the first Test will have to be rekindled if they are to make a tight fist of the five-match series.
In the four days between the 28-run capitulation in Hyderabad and the second Test beginning at the ACA-VDCA Stadium nestled by the Eastern ghats, much talk centred on a beleaguered Indian team ranged against a visiting side gung-ho by the successful execution of a strategy based on playing attacking cricket.
That strategy will be under scrutiny once again on what is reckoned to be a slow turner with bounce, which spinners - there could be nearly eight on both sides - and batters should equally relish. It will be interesting to see, though, if India play to their strengths and trust the game plan that has fetched them so much success over the years against varied opponents.
The way England succeeded with the conventional and reverse sweep is no guarantee for sustained success and if Shubman Gill practising lofted shots in the optional net session on Thursday is any indication, the conventional methodology of countering spin in Indian conditions should hold the hosts in good stead.
There should be more benefits accruing from trusting one's own instincts amid mounting burden in the absence of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja. Madhya Pradesh batter Rajat Patidar had joined the Indian squad ahead of the first Test in Hyderabad and with Sarfaraz Khan also called-up, Friday should see one of them getting their India cap.
The two centuries he scored for India 'A' in his last three innings against England Lions gives Patidar an edge over Sarfaraz and it will be the next step forward for the MP right-hander after his ODI debut in South Africa last year. With 4,000 runs under his belt for Madhya Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy and for India 'A', Patidar, who also had a long stint in the nets on Thursday, will face stiff competition from Sarfaraz, who scored nearly a thousand runs each in 2019-20 and 2020-21 and 556 in nine innings in 2023.
The predicament of losing the first match of the series is not a first for India; they also surrendered the first Test to England three years back. But skipper Rohit Sharma will have fond memories of his twin centuries against South Africa at this venue that saw him in a new avatar as an opener. He will have a lot riding on his shoulders and so will Gill and Shreyas Iyer, just as R Ashwin will look to make amends for his lacklustre show in Hyderabad.
Bashir to debut, veteran seamer Anderson replaces Wood
It remains to be seen if India go the way England have in naming four spinners in the XI with 41-year-old veteran James Anderson replacing Mark Wood and off-spinner Shoaib Bashir making his Test debut in place of left-arm spinner Jack Leach, who suffered a knee injury and has not recovered enough.
To succeed against Indian batters in their home conditions is any spinner's delight and Tom Hartley has raised expectations. A certain Steve O'Keefe had done something similar in Pune when Australia toured India for the four-Test series in 2017.
The 'brain fade' series, as it is remembered, saw the hosts triumph 2-1, despite the left-arm spinner's 12 for 70 in the first Test.
