Rahul returns to India squad

Rajkot: England’s prospects in India were in doubt after their dismal tour of Bangladesh but the touring side proved themselves by running their hosts close for a draw in the opening Test, captain Alastair Cook said on Sunday.

With the pitch at Visakhapatnam expected to assist turn from Day 2, the visitors are expected to go in with the same squad which means that pacer James Anderson will miss out once again.

It’s clear from the visitors’ improved show that a tricky road lies ahead for India. The said average is the highest by an Indian batsman in the fourth innings in Tests (minimum 500 runs). Gautam got his chance as Rahul was injured but now that Rahul is fit and ready, we will look to stick to our old game plan. Rather than that I was just focusing on one ball at a time and trying to take my mind off the situation.

Action shifting to Visakhapatnam, Ravichandran Ashwin will be in focus. This team really prides itself in batting, bowling and catching…

Ben Stokes top-scored for England with 128 in the first Test in Rajkot.

Gambhir’s comeback experiment is clearly not giving the results and the lefthander with his open chested stance found himself out of sorts against a Stuart Broad in-coming delivery to be trapped leg before wicket.

Lokesh Rahul, ruled out with a hamstring injury in the first Test of the recently concluded India – New Zealand series, was called into the Indian Test squad as the sixteenth member.

Showering praise on the spin trio, he said: “They bowled excellently as a group of three spinners”.

In the yesterday’s play of Test match between India and England, both the teams played a psychological game.

Mishra said that the pitch was slow and hard to bowl on, adding that it would have been a lot more exciting had there been more pace in the wicket. We will have Rahul for the Test. “It was a big positive for me”, he added. He scored 76 and 106 in two innings as his team Karnataka would beat Team Rajasthan by 393 runs. They can take a lot from that performance and we as a side can take a lot from that.

Kohli however was quick to defend his own spinners, “I think they (England spinners) bowled well but it’s not that they outperformed our spinners”.

Bolstering that belief were the positives Kumble had seen over the five days in Rajkot. Certainly an advantage in these conditions to bat first.

Even if skipper Virat Kohli goes with the same combination of Gambhir and Vijay, Amit Mishra might be dropped to accommodate Rahul.