England vs. India, Trent Bridge, Second Test Preview

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Nichael Bluth in Tests

In a sentence or two:

With barely time to take a breath since Lord’s, the two teams head up to Trent Bridge. England will look for more of the same while India have selection issues around Zaheer Khan’s fitness and will be hoping for some significant improvements from both batsmen and bowlers.

 

The home team:

Following such a convincing performance at Lord’s it would be a major surprise if England made changes to their XI. The only possibility would be if Chris Tremlett is not fully fit, in which case Tim Bresnan would be the new-ball replacement.

 

Despite the result at Lord’s it wasn’t a perfect performance by England. They’ll certainly be looking to improve the fielding while Andrew Strauss needs a score. The same is true of Eoin Morgan, whose long-term position at number six remains under pressure. There will be several in the England Lions side looking to stake a claim over the next few weeks.

The away team:

Plenty of problems for Duncan Fletcher to consider, fitness and injuries being the most significant. Risking Zaheer Khan in a four man attack would represent a massive gamble so mild-mannered paceman Sreesanth may be drafted in. Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma both bowled well in patches at Lord’s and should find Trent Bridge more to their liking so the real improvement will need to come from Harbhajan Singh who was ineffective first time around.

 

While the batting lineup is unlikely to change there will more expected of the fit-again pair of Tendulkar and Gambhir, along with the whole team in the field. India’s ground fielding was poor throughout the first test.

Weather forecast:

Fingers crossed, the weather is looking dry for the entire duration. Expect to see plenty of cloud cover and the ball swinging, something that won’t have escaped the notice of either side.

 

Key Player for England:

James Anderson. Up to number two in the world rankings, Anderson, who averages under 16 with the ball at Trent Bridge, should find conditions perfectly suited to help him push on towards the top spot.

 

Key Player for India:

Sachin Tendulkar. The Great Man (©Nasser Hussain) was under the weather at Lord’s, with the only aggression during his second innings being directed at the sightscreen. India will be expecting much more from him – that hundredth hundred would be a start – this time around. In what could be a low-scoring encounter, Tendulkar’s runs could make the difference.

 

The 51allout Prediction:

MS Dhoni to bowl fewer overs this time around.