Ind vs Eng 2nd Test: After defeat, India look to revive fortunes at Lord's

As they step into London’s Lord’s Cricket Ground for the 2nd Test of their 5-match series against England, the Virat Kohli-led Indian cricket team would expect its struggling batsmen to take more responsibility and help beat the hosts to level the series. In the first Test, played at Birmingham’s Edgbaston ground, India had come close to taking a lead but fallen short by 31 runs. If captain Kohli had received more support from his batting partners, the result there might have been different.

The Pujara and number 3 conundrum

Indian team management would be in a dilemma over the batting line-up. At Edgbaston, Captain Kohli chose to play Shikhar Dhawan ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara, and fitted in K L Rahul in the playing 11. Experimentation with the number three spot is nothing new for India’s team management. The Kohli-Ravi Shastri combine first played around with number three in 2014-15, when Rohit Sharma was picked ahead of Pujara for the fourth Test against Australia at Sydney. Readmore