Welcome to Channel 4’s new series of Rotation, Rotation, Rotation, where Joe Root and Chris Silverwood – England’s Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp, for the sake of this tortured introduction – are hunting a second victory over India just a short commute from Chennai’s Marina Beach.
Their brief is complicated by a winter of two Indian Premier Leagues, a tournament that has seemingly become a non-negotiable for their clients. It means Jos Buttler misses the next three episodes – he has flown home to rest but will return for the five T20s that follow – and so Ben Foakes moves back in behind the stumps.
Foakes, who many believe has been unlucky not to earn more than five caps to date, is one of four changes to a winning side too. Jofra Archer is injured, Jimmy Anderson is rested and Dom Bess has been clinically whipped out of the firing line after four key wickets in India’s first innings were followed by a battle with full tosses and long hops in the second.
Archer’s elbow injury, a troubling development given the need for an injection, could see his place go one of two ways. With Mark Wood back at home as part of England’s wider rest-and-rotation policy for their multi-format cricketers this winter, Olly Stone is the only other 90mph fast bowler on tour. This would keep the variety of attack Root craves, although the all-round qualities of Chris Woakes could yet get the nod given Foakes, a wonderfully silky gloveman, is not yet Buttler with the bat.
Anderson’s replacement is confirmed, with he and Stuart Broad continuing to trade places this winter. While anything but a downgrade, Virat Kohli’s side will perhaps breathe a little easier after Anderson’s game-breaking spell of reverse swing on Tuesday. The 38-year-old bowled 11 overs in that fourth innings and should still be fresh, although with the third Test in Ahmedabad on 24 February being played under lights with a pink ball, England are keeping his powder dry.
Moeen Ali is the other bowler stepping up off the bench here, in what will be a first Test outing since a year of excellence with the ball was ended by a chastening Ashes series opener in 2019. The reports from the nets are encouraging here, even if it will be a slight step into the unknown for the 33-year-old after sitting out the whole tour of Sri Lanka with Covid-19.
“I’m very confident he’s in a good place,” said Root. “He’s bowling very nicely and he’s got huge amounts of experience in Tests and he’s played in these conditions before. That will hold him in good stead going into the game. He’s a fine competitor and he’ll get himself into the heat of the battle. We know he can produce special things in an England shirt.”
Asked about Bess, who took 17 wickets at 22 in three Tests, Root replied: “It wasn’t an easy decision, Dom has contributed fantastically well in these three games and has made a real impact. The message for him is to keep working at that consistency of his game, delivering that skill time and time again.”
An emphasis on the collective has been a running theme of England’s subcontinental winter, something summed up by Broad and Anderson sharing one spot. When the former was left out last summer it prompted an impassioned display of anger in Sky’s diary room – and was followed by 29 wickets in five Tests – but Root stressed the situation is different this time.
“It’s not like he’s been dropped though, is it?” he said. “He’s been rested. We talk about that rotation policy being crucial to our team’s performance, so they’re fresh when they come in. But also making sure we’re getting the best out of Stuart, Jimmy and the rest of our fast bowlers. Stuart has been extremely professional about things. All he’s tried to do is make sure he’s in the best possible place to start well. He’s a great example for the rest of the guys, he’s been taking things on board, he’s talking through ideas, how we’re going to take wickets out here.
“It’s great to see him so excited about playing and you know he’ll be determined to put in a good performance and really make this game count. That’s always a good place to have Stuart, if he’s got any sort of point to prove or he’s not been playing, he’ll want to have a real impact.”
Much will hinge on what type of surface is produced given Kohli’s annoyance at the one served up by the head groundsman, V Ramesh Kumar, last week. And the Chepauk Stadium does provide options. While the pitch for the first Test had a red soil top that broke up over time, a report in the Indian Express suggests they will now move further along the square to a strip with black or clay soil, something that supposedly offers more bounce and carry.
Like England, India’s team selection revolves around the bowling attack. There was no media interaction after training yesterday, although the uncapped Axar Patel (once of Durham) was declared fit and his fellow left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem simultaneously dropped after Kohli lamented a lack of control. Mohammed Siraj, one of the surprise stars of their 2-1 win in Australia, must surely also be in contention to play if Ishant Sharma or Jasprit Bumrah needs a breather, while the absence of the left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav last week was a huge talking point among supporters.
Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Joe Root (c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes (wk), Moeen Ali, Jack Leach, Olly Stone, Stuart Broad
A number of them will be back for the second Test, with the stadium being partially opened to allow up to 15,000 spectators. This is unlikely to produce the same din as a Chennai Super Kings match, but after a year of canned crowd noise for England’s Test matches, the extra atmosphere is very much welcome for the players and the TV audience.
