FANTASY
Follow UsAn enthralling first Test result that could have tilted either side, mostly India, was wiped out by rain on fifth day at Trent Bridge. Now, the action shifts towards the Home of Cricket, Lord’s, for the second Test of the five-match series.
GROUND DETAILS
In the last three years (since August 2018), there have been three matches played at the Lord’s. The recent one was in 2021 where New Zealand posted 378 runs in the first innings. Apart from that, England in 2019 against Australia had put on 258, against Ireland in 2019, they were bundled out for 85 and India succumbed to 107 in the first innings. On an average, since August 2018, teams batting first have scored 207 runs in the first innings.
The pacers have been authoritative in the wickets section, leaving just nine wickets for the spinners in the last four matches. Whereas, the pacers have bagged 93 percent of the wickets (115). Out of those 115 wickets to pace, right arm pacers have bagged 108 wickets (93.9%) at a bowling strike rate of 41.5. Among venues that have witnessed three or more matches since August 1st 2018, only in Johannesburg (40.9) and Centurion (41.2) have better bowling strike rates for right arm pacers. The 115 wickets by pacers is the most at a venue this time.
In our preferred team, we have gone in with three bowlers, two all-rounders and six batsmen including the wicket-keepers. There is some air of uncertainty over James Anderson as he missed the practice session with a tight quad, which is why we haven’t gone with him in our team.
SUGGESTED TEAM
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms, we have come up with one team
SUGGESTED CAPTAIN
The year 2021 has been exceptional for Joe Root. He has scored over 1000 runs and is the only batsman to achieve this feat this year. The most fascinating aspect about his batting this season has been his conversion rate. Apart from the half-century in the first innings of the first Test, Root has managed to convert the rest of his four 50s into a century. With Root in tremendous form, it's hard to look past others as the captain of fantasy team
Our Criclytics player projections predicts, Root could score 29-44 runs in the second Test
X-FACTOR
In the first Test match KL Rahul showed a lot of improvement and was able to score runs in difficult conditions. His good runs in the last three innings in England is a good sign for India as well as fantasy. The Indian opener is certainly a hot pick and a must-have in the team.
Our Criclytics player projection predicts, Rahul could score 33-50 runs in the second Test
In the first Test, after Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja was India’s best batsman. Why wouldn’t he be when he has been scoring runs consistently. In Test since 2019, Jadeja has scored runs at an average of 53.7 in away matches, which is the best among all Indian batsmen in this time frame. In addition, Jadeja bagged 17 wickets at a bowling average of 26.9 and strike rate of 55. With records like this, Jadeja is for sure an X-factor
Our Criclytics player projection predicts, Jadeja could score 28-43 runs and bag 1-3 wickets in the second Test
Ollie Robinson will have a huge task in his hands if Anderson as well misses out. The five-wicket hauler in the first Test, made his debut at Lord’s in the New Zealand series 2021 and bagged seven wickets in that match. In his two matches, he has bagged 12 wickets at an average of 17.3 and a strike rate of 36.4. The tall fast bowler is one of our X-factors
Our Criclytics player projection predicts, Robinson could bag 4-6 wickets in the second Test