England vs India, ENG vs IND, Today Match Prediction 04 August 2021

eng vs ind Match Prediction & Analysis

The second edition of the Test Championship is scheduled to take place from 4th August 2021. England will be hosting the last edition’s finalists India at Nottingham in a 5-Test match series. The match will start at 10 AM local time. For India, Shubman Gill suffered a stress-related injury in his left leg to rule him out for 8 weeks. Then Indian wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant tested positive for Covid followed by their training assistant Dayanand Guarani which forced another keeper Wriddhiman Saha, Abhimanyu Easwaran, and bowling coach Bharat Arun into isolation. Just when everything was getting back on track, Indian Skipper Kohli and deputy Ajinkya Rahane missed the practice game with a stiff back and hamstring injury respectively. And, 2 days before the first test, backup opener Mayank Agarwal suffered a concussion.

In the English camp, the scenario was not different. The entire team that was ready to play against Pakistan was forced into isolation after the Covid cases. The ECB played a new team overnight which went on to win the series. Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes missed the final cut with their respective injuries. Ben Stokes who led the England team to victory in the Pakistan series has relieved himself from the national team to focus on his mental well-being. On the last tour, England comfortably beat visitors by 4-1. Though they had no answer for the Indian skipper who went on to score 593 runs at an average of 59.30, they didn’t let other Indian players slip from their hands. The scenario is little changed now. The visitors have improved. The players are fierce. India took the Australia series in Australia from the hosts’ jaw. They beat England at home to qualify for the WTC Final. It will be mesmerizing to see how the much-improved side handles the hosts' attack on the morning of August 4th.

TEAMS PREVIEW

England Preview

There is a strong chance that Rory Burns will get a new opening partner in this series. The Lancashire player Haseeb Hameed who made his debut against India back in 2016, has returned to the 17 men squad. Hameed scored an impressive knock of 112 runs for County Select XI in the practice game against India at Chester-Le-Street. He was very aggressive against Indian spinners in the game. Zak Crawley and Skipper Joe Root will be playing the anchoring roles in the top order. Root was leading scorer on England’s tour of India with 368 runs at an average of 46. The home conditions can show us a better figure from the skipper without any doubt.

James Anderson and Stuart Broad are most likely to play together again. Anderson, who recently became the most capped player for England, needs three wickets to pass Anil Kumble’s tally of 619 wickets. A career span of more than 20 years with the third leading wicket taker's spot in Test Cricket is quite a career for anyone. Ollie Robinson is back in the squad after completing his eight-match suspension following the emergence of his old tweets. If England decides to put a spinner in the squad, they will have a difficult choice to make. Jack Leach has the required experience, but Dom Bess is high on his form with a career-best of 7 wickets for 43  for Yorkshire against Northants recently.

Sam Curran will now have to take the lead role of the all-rounder department after Ben Stokes’ withdrawal. Curran was the find of the 2018 series against India with 11 wickets in 4 games at an average of 23.54 and 272 runs with the bat with an average of 38.85.

Key Players: Joe Root, Sam Curran, James Anderson

England Predicted Playing XI:

Joe Root (capt), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Haseeb Hameed, Jack Leach, Ollie Robinson

England Actual Playing XI:

Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Dan Lawrence, Stuart Broad, Zak Crawley, Ollie Robinson, Dominic Sibley, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, James Anderson, Rory Burns

India Preview

Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are the only options left for India to open the innings for the first match. Sharma who has fixed his opening spot in the Test with some solid stats over the last few games is no new to English conditions. In fact, when he last visited England during the ICC World Cup 2019, he scored 648 runs in 9 games at an average of 81 with 5 centuries. Rahul on the other hand scored his last of his 5 centuries on English soil at the Oval. He even scored a century in the practice game. So India will go ahead with him as an opener rather than changing the batting order. Pujara and Kohli will be the next to come in. 

Kohli who had an amazing tour in 2018, must be roaring to take the ground. He hasn’t had a century since November 2019. Ajinkya Rahane if fit will take the 5th spot. But the figures are in contrast to India’s top three. Kohli, Rahane and Pujara who were averaging 62.05, 56.58, and 49 respectively in 2018-2019 are currently averaging below 30 since the start of 2020. If Rahane misses the first test, Hanuma Vihari is likely to make a comeback in the squad after missing the home series against England to an injury. Vihari who was sent earlier to play county got a good batting time in the practice test at the number three position. Ravi Ashwin played a game for Surrey and took 6 wickets in the second innings. India won’t keep him on the bench no matter what the conditions will be. 

India played Ishant Sharma, Jaspreet Bumrah, and Mohammad Shami in the WTC Final. Sharma who has always proven his worth on overseas tours will continue with Shami. The problem is with the performance of Bumrah who didn’t produce much with the ball against New Zealand in the final. Plus lower batting order failures have cost India in recent games. Mohammad Siraj or Umesh Yadav can provide a tough competition to Bumrah in the series.

Key Players: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli,  Mohammad Shami

India Predicted Playing XI:

Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami.

India Actual Playing XI:

Mohammed Siraj, Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli, SN Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Ajinkya Rahane

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The wicket gis flat and therefore helps batsmen and spinners. The weather will be partly cloudy throughout the 5 days and rain predicted from the second day till the last day. The temperature will vary between 13°C to 23°C. The wind will be blowing at 11-20 km/h. It looks like a lot of time will be lost due to rain interruptions.

Venue Details

The venue for this match is Trent Bridge, Nottingham. It has a capacity of 15350 spectators. Opened in 1841, the venue is the home ground of the Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club.

Toss: To Bat

The ground has favourable outcomes for the team batting first. In 63 Tests, the team batting first has been victorious on 23 occasions compared to team batting second who has favorable outcomes 17 times on their side. Therefore the team winning the toss should bat first. The average score of the first innings is 321 which is more than any other innings.