Who will win India vs England (2nd Test)?
After a pulsating first test at Edgbaston, England and India now head to an unusually dry home of cricket for the second match of their five-game series. The five-day match is scheduled to start on Thursday August 9 at 11:00 local time.
Eng vs Ind: Where to watch/Live streaming
TV channels: Sky Sports, Sony Six, Sony Ten 3, SuperSport, Fox Sports, Willow TV
Live streaming: NOW TV, SkyGo, SonyLiv
Toss Prediction
Weather conditions could prove key in the decision to bat or bowl first. Realistically, the pitch will be better for the spinners and could detoriate with a lack of moisture - batting first may be the best option as long as there is no cloud around on the first morning.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for England vs India (2nd Test).
England Team News & Playing 11
ENG Team News
Ben Stokes, who bowled England to victory in the first test, is unavailable for the second test as he is on trial for alleged affray at Bristol Crown Court. Chris Woakes has been called up to replace his fellow all-rounder. The only other change from the squad for the first test is the addition of uncapped County Championship top scorer Ollie Pope - the Surrey batsman replacing Dawid Malan.
Moeen Ali and Jamie Porter retain their places in the 13-man squad. Chris Woakes could be the man to replace Stokes at Lord's.
ENG Key Players
Sam Curran was England's star man in the first test, shining with bat and ball to help England to victory and earning rave reviews from captain Joe Root. He claimed four wickets in the first innings and then hit a vital half-century in the second - those late-order runs proving the difference as England went on to claim victory.
Root himself remains an integral part of the England batting line-up, meanwhile - he averages 43 from his last ten matches, which includes his 80 on the first day last time out. He and fellow Yorkshireman Jonny Bairstow (70) shared a 100-run partnership on Yorkshire Day.
With the ball, James Anderson picked up two wickets in each innings to take him to 38 in his last ten games, while Stuart Broad has 31 in that time. Adil Rashid could be key, meanwhile, if the Lord's wicket turns as much as expected.
ENG Team Form
England have been in poor form in the longest format of the game, but have now won their last two tests at least, following up their innings victory against Pakistan with the 31-run win against India last time out.
Prior to that, however, they were comfortably beaten by Pakistan in the first test of the summer - the tourists winning by nine wickets - to follow a 1-0 series defeat to New Zealand. Against New Zealand, they started the series by being bowled out for 58 in the first innings of the first test but did eventually fall just two wickets short of winning the second test - which would have levelled the series. Before facing New Zealand, of course, they lost the Ashes series 4-0 in Australia.
England Predicted Playing 11
Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (c), Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
India Team News & Playing 11
IND Team News
Kuldeep Yadav could start ahead of Hardik Pandya at Lord's with India expected to go for two spinners this time out - particularly after Pandya bowled just ten wicketless overs at Edgbaston. Ravindra Jadeja is another option, but Kuldeep's wicket-taking form in the T20 and ODI series - bamboozling the English batsmen in the process - could give him the edge.
IND Key Players
Virat Kohli moved back to number one batsman in the world thanks to his efforts in the first test, scoring 200 runs in the game - almost half the total Indian runs for the match. He has 1,151 runs in his last nine tests at an average of 82.21 - and a fairly quick strike rate of 70 too.
While no other Indian batsman scored well in the first test, Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul and Dinesh Karthik were all in good form in the warm-up match against Essex - scoring 52, 58 and 82 respectively.
With the ball, there is little doubt Ravichandran Ashwin is India's star man. He picked up seven wickets in the first test and now has 44 in his last nine games. Mohammed Shami has 34 in his last eight, meanwhile, while Ishant Sharma ripped through England's middle-order with 5-51 in the second innings at Edgbaston.
IND Team Form
India warmed up for facing England with a one-off test against newcomers Afghanistan, and made light work of the test debutants as they posted 474 and then bowled their opponents out for 109 and 103.
It was their second consecutive win, having beaten South Africa by 63 runs in the final test of their three-match series in January - but it was not enough to win the series, having already lost the first two matches after being bowled out cheaply in both second innings.
Prior to facing South Africa, meanwhile, they won 1-0 in a three-match series against Sri Lanka, which concluded at the start of December.
India Predicted Playing 11
Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma
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