India go into the second match with everything at stake for the World Test Championship final
By the time you read this, the players of India and England must have boarded their team buses and would be travelling from their hotels to the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai to begin the first day of the second Test. Also, around the same time, 14,000 fans would be queuing up at the stadium’s 17 gates to gain entry for what would mark the return of spectators for an international match in India; though the in-person attendance is limited to 50 per cent of the stadium’s total capacity owing to social distancing norms as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, according to the Test match managers, the stadium’s belly would this time be bereft of the sounds of the usual drum-beating, whistling and waving of national flags — as the spectators will not be allowed to carry anything inside the stadium except mobile phones — though who can put a stop to the enthusiastic cheer, banter, singing, dancing and the loud “Indiaaah, Indiaaah” cries of the Indian cricket fan at a live match? That’s what not only lifts the mood of the match several notches but in fact electrifies it. As lawyer-activist and author Kanhaiyalal Mishr ‘Prabhakar’ put it beautifully: “Yudhh mein jai bolne waalo ka bhi bahut mahatv hota hai (Even the spectators who cheer and encourage the warriors or gladiators carry a lot of importance).”
Coming to the contest at hand, the Virat Kohli-led team would surely seek redemption, much in the same way it did after the first loss in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. The hosts will be near-unstoppable especially if they win the toss on Saturday. Team India is likely to go for the jugular after having lost the first Test at the same venue by 227 runs — as England handed the hosts their first Test loss in Chennai in 22 years — on a pitch that didn’t have anything to offer to the bowlers. But the fresh surface, with a drier and darker look, promises to be a happy hunting ground for the spinners. Ajinkya Rahane and English keeper Ben Foakes even let it be known openly that the new pitch is nothing like what the teams played on in the first match and the surface is expected to have more bounce and carry. “I am sure it’ll turn from Day 1,” Rahane said. The wicket’s turning nature will surely influence the final XI for India, who face difficult questions regarding their second line of spinners to assist seasoned off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Axar Patel, having recovered from the knee injury he picked on the eve of the first Test, is likely to make his Test debut. In case Patel plays, the team management will need to figure out whether to go with Washington Sundar or Kuldeep Yadav as the third spinner. Meanwhile, England have made four changes to their winning team. Also, don’t forget, at stake is a place in the World Test Championship final in England this summer. While New Zealand have already claimed one slot, India need to win the series 2-0 or 2-1 to secure a place in the final.