England face questions over makeup of attack … again
Last time the quandary was how to accommodate Jimmy Anderson; this time it is Stuart Broad who is posing the questions … or at least some of them. Alastair Cook sounded doubtful when asked if Broad’s injured foot will have recovered in time for the third Test but in a way his enforced absence may make life easier for the selectors because they could simply bring back Chris Woakes. However the perceived wisdom is that conditions in Mohali are the most likely to suit seam and if England are ever to revert to four seamers then this is the place they will do so. Therefore if Broad is fit then surely Woakes will replace Zafar Ansari. The Surrey man is a talented cricketer with an admirable attitude and it is too soon to write him off but he was a passenger in the second Test. Cook barely trusted him with the ball in the first innings – he took none for 45 from 12 overs – and did not bowl him at all in the second due to a back injury, while he managed only four runs. If Broad is not fit then Ansari’s poor performances raise further questions: do they stick to three spinners and bring in the 39-year-old Gareth Batty – a better bowler than Ansari in any case – or ask Steven Finn or Jake Ball to come in cold? Dan Lucas
Adil Rashid is in for the long haul
Adil Rashid’s performance in the first Test suggested he is – finally, at 28 – coming of age as a Test spinner. In fairness to the Yorkshire leggie, this seven-Test winter across first Bangladesh and India is the first time conditions have necessitated an extended run in the side but he has he surely convinced the last of the impartial doubters. Never mind the ill-advised waft with the bat in England’s final-day collapse, he was his side’s best bowler and is worth a place even in less spin-friendly conditions. The six wickets were impressive but equally instructive was the fact Cook turned to him, rather than the senior Moeen Ali – at first change in India’s second innings. He responded brilliantly with four for 82 and dramatically reducing the number of “gimme” balls, for which he has rightly been criticised, even when India looked to accelerate. With Moeen clearly worth his place on the strength of his batting, and Woakes and Ben Stokes adding further all-round options, there is no reason Rashid should not be in the side for the first Test of the summer. DL
England’s top three can bat time
A side holding on for a draw overseas is becoming an increasingly rare sight, let alone in India. In 38 Tests in 2016, only twice have a side saved or won a match batting last after conceding a first-innings lead: Sri Lanka, in the rain-affected draw at Lord’s and India in the first Test of this series in Rajkot. England did not get close to emulating these feats in the second Test and fell some way short of South Africa’s ultimately futile 143.1-over epic effort in Delhi last year. However the match was lost when they collapsed in the evening session on day two rather than in the fourth innings. Cook, Haseeb Hameed and Joe Root survived a cumulative 439 balls in England’s final dig, showing the art of batting time to save a Test is not lost, while Moeen, Stokes and Jonny Bairstow have all shown they can rein in their stroke-playing instincts. The problem lies at No4, where Ben Duckett does not yet possess the technique for Test cricket, while there are few signs Jos Buttler does and Gary Ballance’s problems are well documented; England are missing James Taylor more than they may have expected. DL
Duckett needs a break
Ben Duckett does not have the best name for a struggling batsman. His first Test duck gave some easy work to headline writers – and probably England’s selection panel too. They usually like to give a batsman one Test too many rather than one too few but there is a compelling argument that dropping Duckett would be an act of kindness. His low scores are less of a worry than the manner of them; Ravi Ashwin is the Kumble to his Richard Blakey, and it is hard to see Duckett making runs in this series. He is an outrageous talent who will be back – just like Buttler, his likely replacement, who was left out in similar circumstances in the UAE a year ago. Buttler has played only one four-day match since then and is yet to crack first-class cricket with the bat, never mind Test matches. A personal preference would be for England to fly over a spin-playing specialist like Sam Billings, as Test results are far more important than the ego and pride of selectors and players. Buttler does at least have one thing on his side – his genius – and playing him as a specialist batsman may help him master the red-ball game. Rob Smyth
There’s more to India than Ashwin and Jadeja
It was expected, not unreasonably, that Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja would be India’s biggest threats with the ball in this series. They remain so but the evidence of the second Test is there is plenty more to fear. Mohammed Shami, one of those rare fast bowlers who is at his best in Asia, bowled thrillingly with the new and old balls, while the two Yadavs – the paceman Umesh and the debutant off-spinner Jayant – also gave England plenty of problems. The batsmen could never relax. Jayant’s delivery to bowl Stokes, which drifted in and spat off the pitch, was like watching Graeme Swann at his best. India don’t just have five bowlers; they have a proper five-man attack. RS
