“As we all know,” says Alex Hankey, “India is crazy about cricket. As an Englishman living and working in Pune, I am often asked where I come from, my “Native Place”. If ‘England’ receives a lack of response, ‘Joe Root’ instructs immediate recognition. I can see that now I have to change it to “Ben Stokes”! Best wishes and many thanks for all your efforts. ” Pleasure! I’m old enough to remember when the magic words were “Bobby Charlton”. 3rd over: India 7-0 (Gill 4, Pujara 0) Anderson adjusts his line, putting Gill to play, but the consequence is only a controlled advantage, falling too far off the line, and a few goodbyes. 2nd over: India 5-0 (Gill 4, Pujara 0) The other starting bowler is … Stuart Broad. I wonder if Stokes was tempted to go with Matthew Potts, as (a) he is the devil the Indians do not know and (b) he would really make Brod start. But Broad is, and opens with a non-ball before joining the dots, as Cheteshwar Pujara just seems to survive and Broad, like his old companion, escapes a lot. It was a mild surprise to see Pujara pushed to open, but a Sky caption shows he’s really better there than at No. 3: eight innings, averaging 98. Updated at 10.42 BST 1st over: India 4-0 (Gill 4, Pujara 0) Anderson’s first ball goes to Sam Billings. He found some conversation by the middle of it, but it ‘s too far away and Shubman Gill, taking his cue from Rohit and Rahul last summer, gets some good solid sheets. The fifth ball is the inswinger, who hits him high in the tak. the same as the sixth, but it is fuller and Gill cuts it for an effortless four. The hymns sound, giving us the opportunity to read a little body language. Indians stand proud, strong and separate from each other, implying independence. England shakes hands, emphasizing unity. Anderson shakes one hand, wanting something. He has something now: the new ball. The first email of the day comes from Texas. “Hello!” says Jay P. “Does D’yuh think India will tremble with its boots because of NZ steamrolling from England, the current World Test champions?” No. But my guess, probably no better than yours, is that they will be wary. It’s one more thing for Bumrah to think about, beyond a hundred others.
India Team: No Ashwin!
Jasprit Bumrah goes with a four seamers battery, so there is no room for Ravichandran Ashwin. In a perfect world, the ECB would run a one-day contest between him and Josh Butler. As awesome as these fans are, you wonder if India has noticed that this year’s Dukes ball is not moving much and Jack Leach has just got a ten-for. Maybe they decided that whatever Leach can do, Ravi Jadeja can do it better. 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Cheteshwar Pujara, 3 Hanuma Vihari, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Shreyas Iyer, 6 Rishabh Pant (wkt), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Mohammed Siraj, Burahs (11h).
England team: as advertised
Stokes wants to announce his team the day before, so there are no surprises here. Jimmy Anderson is back, Jamie Overton is leaving and Sam Billings has a good start and not a last minute break. The big question is whether Stuart Broad will have recovered from his very big change at Headingley. 1 Alex Lees, 2 Zak Crawley, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 Ben Stokes (captain), 7 Sam Billings (wkt), 8 Stuart Broad, 9 Matthew Potts, 10 Jack Leach, 11 Jimmy Anderson.
Ejection: England chooses to hunt
Ben Stokes wins the launch and puts India on the bat. The thrill of the hunter! This is not Bazball, this is Morgsball.
Preamble
Good morning everyone and welcome to a contest that shouts to be the answer to a quiz question. Although it needs a little careful wording. Which trial series judge took place in a different season from the series he decided on? With different leaders and coaches on both sides? It’s a bit like the ice cream with bacon and egg that Heston Blumenthal once made: weird but delicious. We have seen Joe Root and Virat Kohli appear on the toss quite often. It’s time for Ben Stokes and … Jasprit Bumrah! Rohit Sharma, India’s new test leader, has unfortunately been ousted by Covid, which is bad news for those who know how to start the old school test, but exciting news for sports strategy students. Stokes is a leader just like he plays, a man on a mission to make things happen. If Bumrah turns out to be this captain as well, this test could be over by tomorrow night. For the Stokes, it is his first game in this series. For England, it is almost certain that this is the first time it has ever had back-to-back Tests against different opponents. It could be a nightmare, but after all these chases against New Zealand have the momentum. They also have a home advantage: the game is in Edgbaston, where they beat India in six Tests out of seven (and never lost). Hell, England even have a solid team, albeit because the Stokes and Brenton McCallum are leaning back to show loyalty to their original players, Alex Lees and Zak Crawley. The Indians could catch a cold, as they did last summer, when they lost at the World Test Championship to New Zealand. But they have the lead in the series (2-1) and most of the superstars in the score: the rekindled Cheteshwar Pujara, the striker Rishabh Pant, the cunning Ravi Ashwin, the tireless Mohammed Shami, the cobbler Bumrah and the injured Kohli, which definitely has a big score in the back pocket. On this ground, three years ago, he made a masterful 149 and 51 and yet ended up on the losing side due to the will for victory shown by the English allrounders, Stokes and Sam Curran. If today’s captains are birds, coaches are a study in contrasts. Brendon McCallum treats a day at the Test as a trip to a festival. Rahul David sees it more as a day at the library – an hour of diligence and sobriety, with fun as an occasional bonus. It’s a clash of cultures that could create a cracker. The game is going to start early throughout the match – at 10.30 am. UK time, at 3 p.m. in India. I will be back 25 minutes before this with news about the toss. Will any leader have fun hitting Stokes’ England first? We’ll see. Updated on 10.11 BST
