Pathum Nissanka's record-breaking double century steered Sri Lanka to a comfortable 42-run win over Afghanistan Friday in the opener of their three-match one-day international series at Pallekele.
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Sri Lanka won their one-off Test match against Afghanistan by 10 wickets, but skipper and captain Kusal Mendis said Thursday they face a tougher challenge on the eve of their three-match ODI series.
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Injured Indian fast bowler Prasidh Krishna has been on the mend from his quadriceps injury.
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India defeated England in their second Test by 106 runs and levelled the five-match series 1-1
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India were dealt a rude shock in Hyderabad, where they ended up suffering a 28-run defeat despite collecting a 190-run first innings lead, but bounced back in style in Visakhapatnam a week later with a convincing 106-run victory.
Jasprit Bumrah had bowled some quality spells and was able to get six wickets in Hyderabad by making excellent use of reverse swing. The star pacer was even more destructive in Vizag, where he would end up collecting six wickets in one innings — dishing out his best performance at home — and would grab another three in the second innings to help India bowl England out for 292 after setting them an improbable 399 to win.
As for the batters, the trio of Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja had scored fifties in the first Test, but none of them were able to convert those fifties into bigger scores and go past the hundred mark. In the second game, not only did Jaiswal slam a maiden double-century, going past his previous best score of 171 on debut, but Shubman Gill too bounced back to form and scored a timely century in the second innings, helping India stay ahead of the curve with Jaiswal’s 209 helping the hosts score nearly 400 after opting to bat.
Read | BCCI likely to announce squad for remaining Tests within couple of days, take call on Kohli
With more than 10 days to go for the third Test, where Rohit Sharma and Co will have the slight psychological edge even if the series is level at one-all given their morale-boosting victory in Vizag, we take a look at some of the areas where the home team can improve in order to bolster their chances of going 2-1 up:
Batting needs to click as a unit
Since the first innings in Hyderabad, the Indian batting unit hasn’t really clicked as a unit. While three members of the lineup went past fifty to help India post 436 in the series opener, the highest score in the second innings was Rohit’s 39 as the hosts crumbled under sustained pressure from Ben Stokes and Co and fell 28 runs short after being set a challenging 231 to win.
At Vizag, on the other hand, both Jaiswal and Gill scored the lion’s share of runs. Jaiswal collected 209 in an innings where the next-highest score was Shubman Gill’s 34. Gill, similarly, was the only batter to cross fifty in the second innings, collecting 104 off 147 balls with Axar Patel the next-highest scorer at 45.
The Indian batter needs to click as a unit in the upcoming fixtures, starting with the Rajkot Test, if they are to post competitive totals and boost their chances of preserving their home dominance.
Rohit and Iyer need to pick up
Rohit had a tremendous run with the bat in the ICC World Cup, but his form has been mixed ever since. The India skipper has crossed the fifty mark just one — in his unbeaten 121 in the third T20I against Afghanistan in Bengaluru. His highest in Tests since the World Cup is 39 — in the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town and in the second innings in Hyderabad.
Shreyas Iyer did collect a couple of sparkling half-centuries in the T20I series against Australia at home right after the World Cup, but the closest he’s come to scoring a red-ball fifty was in his knock of 48 for Mumbai against Andhra in the Ranji Trophy right before the England series.
Both batters will hope to bounce back to form in Rajkot. Iyer, especially, will have to work hard to retain his place in the XI. The Mumbaikar had batted at Virat Kohli’s position of No 4 in the first two Tests, and will be in a three-way tie with KL Rahul — who missed the Vizag fixture due to injury — and Rajat Patidar for the No 5 position should Kohli be included for the remainder of the series.
Second seamer remains a worry
The India-England series was expected to be one where spinners would dominate, with the veteran duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja feasting on overseas batters who aren’t used to raging turners. Instead, Jasprit Bumrah’s 15 wickets across two Tests as well as quality spells from veteran pacer James Anderson have served to remind us of the importance of seam-bowling, especially making use of the reversing ball, in these conditions.
Bumrah has lived up to his match-winning billing in the last couple of games, but the second seamer — Mohammed Siraj in Hyderabad and Mukesh Kumar in Visakhapatnam — weren’t quite as effective and couldn’t really execute their role — that of lightening the burden on the lead pacer and the spin department. India did miss Mohammed Shami in the first two games, and will be hoping he regains fitness for the remainder of the series. In the meantime, either of Siraj or Mukesh will hope to put up a better show in Rajkot, whoever gets picked.
Indian spinners getting outperformed
Bumrah’s brilliance in the last two Tests has somewhat overshadowed the fact that the famed Indian spin department are getting outperformed by their English counterparts.
The fact might just sound blasphemous to many an Indian cricket fan, especially since English conditions aren’t known for supporting spin and that particular department hasn’t traditionally been the English team’s strength.
Add to that the inexperience among the England spinners; before the India-England series, Jack Leach was the only experienced frontline spinner in the English squad with 35 appearances. Leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed had played just one Test, against Pakistan in 2022, while left-arm spinner Tom Hartley and off-spinner Shoaib Bashir were yet to represent England in red-ball cricket.
And yet the English spinners managed to collect 33 wickets in the two Tests at a superior average (33.90) and economy (3.48) than their Indian counteparts, who managed just 23 (average: 38.39; economy: 4.18). Part of the reason behind that is Tom Hartley’s match-winning haul of 7/62 that spun England to victory in Hyderabad. The Surrey spinner would collect a four-fer in the subsequent Test in Vizag, where Bashir and Rehan were also among the wickets.
Additionally, the English batters appear to have trained extensively for the spinners and have largely been able to counter them successfully, especially with their sweeps and reverse sweeps and by using their feet to smother the turn on offer.
Read | How bad Indian spinners have been as compared to England spinners in first two Tests
Ashwin and Axar have bowled in both Tests, while Jadeja and Kuldeep played in Hyderabad and Vizag respectively, with the former likely to return upon regaining fitness. Come Rajkot, the trio will hope to dominate the opposition batters the way they have for some many years now.
More consistency in fielding
India were miles better in terms of fielding on the fourth — and what turned out to be final — day of the second Test. Not only did Rohit pluck a blinder at slip to dismiss Ollie Pope off Ravichandran Ashwin, but Iyer ran Ben Stokes out with a brilliant direct hit at the striker’s end to virtually end England’s hopes of pulling off a miracle late in the game.
India, however, could do with a little more consistency in this department. It wasn’t too long ago when Axar dropped a sitter to hand Pope a reprieve on 110 — the English No 3 would go on to add another 86 runs that would prove crucial in the Hyderabad Test. India have also been guilty of relieving some of the pressure on the Englishmen by conceding overthrows as well as through misfield.
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Australia named a full-strength squad Tuesday for three T20Is in New Zealand this month as they ramp up preparations for the World Cup. Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Travis Head and Steve Smith will all return after being rested for their upcoming three-match home series against the West Indies, which starts in Hobart on Friday.
“The next six games will provide us the opportunity to start shaping what we think our World Cup squad will look like and potential roles within that,” said chief selector George Bailey.
“We will also fully utilise the opportunity to monitor and watch the performances of the Australian players in the IPL (Indian Premier League) immediately preceding the World Cup.”
The games in Wellington and Auckland from February 21-25 are the last in the format for Australia before the World Cup, which is co-hosted by the United States and West Indies in June.
Australia T20 squad: Mitchell Marsh (capt), Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
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England players packed their bags and left India after suffering a 106-run loss in the second Test against India at Visakhapatnam as the hosts levelled the five-match series 1-1 on Sunday. Ben Stokes’ led England will now be spending the break between second and third Test in Abu Dhabi. The third Test at Rajkot only starts on 15 February and with the second Test finishing early, on Day 4, there’s a 10-day break. As per news agency PTI, England team wants to take a break from cricket and will use the Abu Dhabi trip to relax off the field and play some golf.
Watch: Top moments as India beat England by 106 runs to win second Test
It has to be noted that England were stationed in Abu Dhabi even before reaching India for the first two Tests. They had setup a pre-series camp in Abu Dhabi where they worked on playing the spinners and adapting to subcontinent weather instead of coming to India for a pre-series preparation.
Coming to the series.
England won the first match at Hyderabad with a stunning 28-run victory as debutant Tom Hartley spun them to a 1-0 lead with eight wickets in the match. After struggling with batting issues in the first Test, India faced the same in Visakhapatnam as they fought to level the series. Apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal who made a double ton in the first innings, none of the Indian batters were able to touch the 50-run mark. However, a century from out-of-form Shubman Gill in second innings allowed India to set a record 399-run target.
WTC standings: India go second after winning second Test vs England
England gave a good account of themselves and fought back with 292 runs in the fourth innings but an almost 400-run target was always to be a big ask.
England captain Stokes wasn’t an unhappy man after the defeat and lauded his team for showing fight.
“Coming into this last innings, had full belief in ourselves that we’ll chase it down. In moments like that, in games with scoreboard pressure, that’s where we get the best out of ourselves. Another great game to be a part of,” he said after the game.
In Rajkot, a confident England will now try to take lead once again.
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