All You Need To Know About India vs England - 2nd Test of England Tour of India 2024

The 2nd test of the England Tour of India, 2024 starts tomorrow, 2 February. Both the teams are facing each other at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.

It wasn’t the right start for India, as England won the first test match. But hopes are still higher, the team is highly anticipated to rise again. The team is undergoing big changes in bowling.

Sarfaraz Khan’s long wait for an opportunity is now over.

This occurred as KL Rahul faced injury which gave the consistent performer, Sarfaraz Khan a huge chance. Jadeja is suffering from a hamstring injury.

Along with Sarfaraz, the selection committee is likely to add Saurabh Kumar and off-spinning all-rounder, Washington Sundar for the second test. Looks like the focus is on improving the spin squad.

Kohli is Still Unavailable

We all are still unclear about the availability of Virat Kohli, he had already mentioned that he’ll be unavailable for the first two test matches due to personal reasons. The story could be the same for this match as well. There is no chance of him entering the second test.

Pitch Report

The pitch at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam is friendly to the batters but the spinners have equal chances of performing better as the test match progresses. Considering the pitch, the team with a strong spin bowling line-up will rule the game.

Harbhajan Singh has Something To Say, We’re All Ears!

Former Indian cricketer, and off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh suggested some crucial changes in the playing XIs. The former spinner suggested Rohit Sharma to go with four spinners, replacing Mohammed Siraj with Kuldeep Yadav. This means that Jasprit Bumrah would be the sole pacer in the Indian team. He said-

“I think Sarfaraz should be played at No. 5. He has been scoring a lot of runs in domestic cricket and even for India A in the matches against England Lions."

The inclusion of spinners is highly dependent upon the pitch conditions and the report suggests that it is quite friendly for the spinners.

Here are the probable playing XIs as per Harbhajan Singh-

Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, KS Bharat, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav/Mohammed Siraj.

Head-to-Head Record

Both teams have played a total (132) matches against each other. England is ahead in the race, the team has won (50) matches, whereas, India won (31). These were the statistics on the grounds outside India but in the hosting country - India, both the teams confronted each other in (65) tests, India won (22), England won (15), and (28) were drawn.

What’s on the Line?

While England is looking forward to keeping a lead and increasing it to (2-0), it would heavily pressure the Indian team. Whereas the host team is eager to open the winning table. Records highlight India's excellency in the home grounds. They don’t want to tarnish it!