London, Aug 9: Intermittent rain and wet outfield forced the umpires to abandon the first day's play the of the second Test between India and England here on Thursday (August 9). Hosts England lead the five-match series after their 31-run victory in the gripping first Test at Birmingham.
The toss for the match hasn't been done yet and the two captains would be eager to win as the match has been reduced to four days now.
The Indian team would expect its floundering batsmen to take more responsibility in pursuit of a series-levelling win at the Lord's.
If captain Virat Kohli had got support from his batting colleagues in Birmingham, the scenario would have been completely different.
The world number one Test side came close to taking the lead but fell short in the end. India could make changes in the playing XI.
India batsmen need to produce a better show in the second Test to give a tough fight to England. Joe Root and his men would start confident thanks to their win in the first Test.
MATCH IS TELECAST LIVE ON SONY SIX and SONY TEN3
As the day progressed:
Disappointment for Master Blaster!
Was all set to ring the bell at Lords to start off the 2nd Test today, but unfortunately the weather had other plans.😊
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 9, 2018
Hopefully we’ll get to see some good cricket over the next 4 days. @PaulJheeta, loved the colour of the suit. #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/rhcTi6YOfj
The day's play has been called off. Not a single ball was delivered today and the toss will be held on Friday. The last time no play on the opening day of a Lord's Test match - 17 May 2001.
The last time no play on the opening day of a Lord's Test match - 17 May 2001.#EngvPak
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 9, 2018
England won on third day (20 May) by an inns & 9 runs!#ENGvIND
Will 17-year-old streak of no first day washout at the Lord's end today?
The last time no play on the opening day of a Lord's Test match - 17 May 2001.#EngvPak
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) August 9, 2018
England won on third day (20 May) by an inns & 9 runs!#ENGvIND
Streaker already on the ground?
A couple of blokes just went for a slip n slide session on the covers. An expensive session I’d say... #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/W5Jeoyf3WT
— Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) August 9, 2018
Some fun at Lord's.
Two merry-looking fellas have just bellyflopped on the covers at Lord's. Got good distance on their slides, tbf. Not sure they'll be back any time soon. pic.twitter.com/5fr7grXP8A
— Sam Morshead (@SamMorshead_) August 9, 2018
Update! Rain has stopped in London and early tea has been taken at 8:20 PM. Umpires could be seen talking to head groundsman Mick Hunt.
It's the time of the scheduled tea break on day one at Lord's, and there's still no sign of any start of the second Test. ☔️#ENGvIND LIVE ➡️ https://t.co/e1I98c7CZY pic.twitter.com/RaJS1icd53
— ICC (@ICC) August 9, 2018
Since the rain hasn't stopped an early lunch has been taken by the umpires at Lord's. The toss is going to be tricky for the captains and it would be interesting to see what will be their playing XIs.
We are taking an early lunch at 12.30pm. Hopefully it will brighten up for play this afternoon.#ENGvIND
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 9, 2018
The rain hasn't receded yet. The toss is already delayed by 90 minutes.
Covers still on here at Lord’s, with the start of play delayed ☔️ 🌧 #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/5cbxLsJ9XO
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 9, 2018
Update: It's still raining at Lord's and the covers aren't going to be removed any time sooner. Seems the first session is going to be washed out.
Rain Delays Toss!
It's pouring down at the moment and the toss has been delayed due to the same.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/ZfkcpJQYPx
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 9, 2018
Match Fact!
India have only managed one Test victory in their last 11 attempts in England (D2 L8); they have suffered four defeats in succession there to England ahead of this match at Lord's.
Match Facts!
England lost to Pakistan at Lord's earlier this year, they have never lost two Test matches in the same calendar year at the famous venue however. England have won back-to-back Tests ahead of this contest; they can equal their longest winning run since a four-game streak in 2013 by seeing off India in the 2nd Test of this series. Just one of England's last 28 Test matches to have been played on home soil has ended in a draw (W18, L9); Joe Root's men have claimed victory in six of their last eight in England (L2).
Match Fact!
India have only managed to register two Test wins over England at Lord's (D4 L11); one of those came last time out (2014) whilst the first occasion (1986) saw Dilip Vengsarkar score his third Test century at the venue, a feat that is yet to be matched by an overseas batsman.
Match Fact!
Alastair Cook needs 84 to become only the second batsman ever to post 2,000 Test runs at Lord's, he'll need 100 to go above the leading scorer there (Gooch, 2,015); he's averaged just 18.4 across his 11 Test knocks so far in 2018 however.
Match Fact!
James Anderson (90) is six scalps away from becoming the all-time leading wicket-taker in Tests between England and India (Bhagwath Chandrasekhar, 95); he also needs six dismissals to become the first bowler to take 100 Test wickets at Lord's, he'd be only the second player to claim that many at a single venue (Muralitharan at three different grounds).
Match Fact!
Ishant Sharma has taken 4+ wickets in three of his last four Test innings in England; including his five-wicket haul at Edgbaston in England's second innings.
Match Fact!
Virat Kohli has converted 13 of 20 Test 50s into 100s since the start of 2015; the best rate of any batsman to reach 50 more than once in that time (65%), although Joe Root has got to 50 11 times more than anyone else in the same timeframe (42), he has only managed to convert 19% of those into centuries.
Match Facts!
20-year-old Ollie Pope has the highest average in the 2018 County Championship of anyone to record more than two innings (85.5 across 10 knocks); he replaces Dawid Malan who has only managed an average of 19.9 over the 11 Test innings he recorded in 2018.
Rainy morning in London! Toss likely to be delayed.
It's been a rainy morning here in London and looks like we'll have to play the waiting game for a bit.
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 9, 2018
Stay tuned for further updates.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/JVwBYeF7Bw
The tourists would expect their floundering batsmen to take more responsibility in pursuit of a series-levelling victory.
Virat Kohli and his boys missed the opportunity of the taking an early lead in the Test series as they went down by 31 runs in the opening Test against the hosts despite their skipper's heroics.
The visitors will be keen to level the series at Lord's as England are playing without their premier all-rounder Ben Stokes. The Indian batting needs to step up for that to happen as no player except Kohli looked comfortable enough to survive for long enough in the Birmingham Test.
However, Lord's has been a good hunting ground for India. They won a Test here in 2014 under MS Dhoni's captaincy. We expect Kohli and Co. to give a good performance in the second Test.
Two days before the game, there was a healthy amount of grass on the Lord's pitch. It is expected that the groundsmen will shave a few bits off before the first ball. But even if they don't, the general expectation is that the pitch would turn out to be quite dry. This has also prompted a rethink in the Indian camp as to what bowling strategy they would want to go in with.
Despite India's overall failed batting effort at Edgbaston, bowling coach Bharat Arun ruled out playing an extra batsman here. He also mentioned that the second spinner could come into contention. In that scenario, Umesh Yadav can be left out with Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya handling the pace duties.