Sunil Gavaskar
Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Men in Blue has looked in some ominous form in the tour of England so far. They have won 3 out of the 4 matches so far quite comprehensively and will look to seal the ODI series today when the two sides square off in the 2nd ODI at the Lord’s. There is no doubt about the fact that Indian will begin as favourites given their stupendous form in the limited overs series so far.

It was a heroic spell by Kuldeep Yadav which had the Engish batters in big trouble. They were unable to pick his variations and kept giving away their wickets to false shots. He kept on inviting them for drives and the English batters were totally bamboozled on most occasions. He ended with sensational figures of 6/25 in his 10 overs spell. It included all the top wickets. It was instrumental in preventing England from going beyond the 300 mark.

India has been the better side in the series by far. Rohit Sharma after missing out in the first two T20I’s has stormed back to form and has smashed a couple of back to back centuries. When Rohit hits the ball it looks so pleasing to the eyes. Dhawan has also looked in good touch. However, he has not been able to convert his brisk starts into a big one. However, today might be the day for Dhawan to rise to the occasion.

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Virat Kohli
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The bowling department for India has been led by a sensational Kuldeep Yadav. He has been well supported by his wrist spinning partner Yuzvendra Chahal. He hasn’t been as productive as Kuldeep but has given him good support. Even the pacers Umesh Yadav and Siddharth Kaul has bowled in the right areas and has bagged some crucial wickets.

India’s tremendous performance 

The pitch was a batting paradise in the opener. Hence the faster bowlers struggled quite a lot. But the middle overs has been brilliant from India. They haven’t allowed England to go after the bowlers and change the strike over. The lower middle order hasn’t been tested yet and hence I should believe Kohli should look to bat first after winning the toss.

India is playing some wonderful cricket and will be upbeat to lift the World Cup next year. But they will look to get their combinations right in case they need to bat first in a crucial match. England, on the other hand, has been pretty below par in all departments of the game. They have failed to impress and thus stand on the verge of losing the ODI series as well.

The batting line-up has been bamboozled time and again by Kuldeep. The bowlers have come in for some serious treatment from the Indian batters. It will be a monumental task for them to beat India today. However, England is a top quality side in the 50 overs format. Hence a comeback cannot be ruled out

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Both India and England are expected to play with the same XI. The home team will be forced to play Ben Stokes despite the all-rounder being woefully out of form. Alex Hales has already been ruled out of the rest of the series which will be a huge bonus for India.

Virat Kohli
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Predicted XI’s

England:  Jason Roy, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, David Willey, Mark Wood, Liam Plunkett

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar/Siddarth Kaul

Match Predictions

With the sort of form, India has been in, there is hardly any doubt about the fact that they will be the overwhelming favourites to seal the series in Lord’s. They have played some terrific brand of cricket and it will take a huge task from England to make a comeback in the series. Hence I will back India to seal the series today.

A Cricket Expert who loves revolving his life around the game. An extremely passionate music lover who loves singing and listening to Arijit Singh songs.