LONDON: England captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to field against India in the second Test at Lord’s today.
After rain washed out Thursday’s scheduled first day without a ball bowled, there were blue and sunny skies above Lord’s.
England made two changes from the side that beat India by 31 runs in the first Test at Edgbaston last week to go 1-0 up in this five-match series.
As confirmed by England captain Joe Root on Wednesday, Surrey batsman Ollie Pope was given a Test debut in place of Dawid Malan, who was dropped after a run of low scores.
Pope is the fourth player under 21 to represent England in Test cricket this year, following Mason Crane, Dominic Bess, and Sam Curran.
England was without Ben Stokes because of his ongoing trial on a charge of affray in Bristol.
Fellow pace-bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes came into the side in Stokes’s absence, with off-spinner Moeen Ali dropped from a squad where uncapped Essex pace bowler Jamie Porter had already been released.
India also made two changes, with Cheteshwar Pujara coming in after struggling opener Shikhar Dhawan was dropped and left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who caused England problems in the preceding white-ball series, replacing paceman Umesh Yadav.
KL Rahul was set to open alongside Murali Vijay.
Kuldeep’s inclusion meant India played two spinners, with off-break bowler Ravichandran Ashwin, who starred at Edgbaston, retained.
Teams:
England: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (capt), Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow (wkt), Jos Buttler, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
India: KL Rahul, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (capt), Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma
Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Marais Erasmus (RSA)
TV umpire: Chris Gaffaney (NZL)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
Relevant piece:
James Anderson struck twice to leave India 11 for two at lunch after a rain-marred opening session on the second day of the second Test against England at Lord’s on Friday.
After rain washed out Thursday’s first day without a ball bowled, England captain Joe Root decided to field when he won the toss.
Although the skies above Lord’s were then blue and sunny, they soon clouded over and combined with a green-tinged pitch made conditions favorable for England’s pacemen and in particular swing specialist Anderson.
England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker started this match needing just six wickets to become the first bowler to take 100 wickets in Tests at Lord’s and he needed just five balls to move closer to that landmark.
The 36-year-old Lancashire star struck in the first over of the day. Murali Vijay, aiming legside as the ball moved in towards him in the air, was undone by late outswing and bowled for a duck to leave India naught for one.
His exit brought in Cheteshwar Pujara, recalled after India dropped struggling opener Shikhar Dhawan.
Pujara may be sixth in the Test batting rankings but he averaged a meager 14.33 in 12 innings for Yorkshire this season with a top score of 41.
But Pujara could only watch Anderson dismissed KL Rahul (eight), who pushed forward defensively and got a thin edge to wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow.
Rahul might have left the ball but, with Anderson bowling from the Pavilion End, there is always a concern for right-handed batsmen that the ball can come down the slope that runs across the ground and hit the off stump.
India were 10 for two in the seventh over, with Anderson having taken two wickets for five runs in 15 balls.
But two balls later, after new batsman Virat Kohli, the India captain, had added a single, the umpires took the players off the field for rain.
Pujara and Kohli were then both one not out.
Lunch was brought forward to 12:40 pm (1140 GMT) in the hope the match could restart at 1:20 pm.
Both teams made two changes after England’s 31-run win in the first Test at Edgbaston — a match that, despite star batsman, Kohli’s first Test century on English soil, left the home team 1-0 up in a five-match series.
Ollie Pope, a 20-year-old Surrey batsman, made his England debut after Dawid Malan was dropped.
England was without Ben Stokes because of his ongoing trial on a charge of affray in Bristol.
Fellow pace-bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes replaced Stokes.
For India, Pujara replaced struggling opener Shikhar Dhawan and left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who troubled England with 14 wickets in the preceding limited overs series, was selected for just his third Test after paceman Umesh Yadav was omitted.
Earlier, former England captain Ted Dexter rang the Pavilion bell to signal five minutes before the start of play.
That honor would have gone to India great Sachin Tendulkar had the match started on Thursday.
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