England vs India, 2nd Test Preview: India Aim For Better Batting Show, Series Lead At Lord's

England vs India, 2nd Test: The likes of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane will look to put some runs on the board as India aim for an improved batting performance and a series lead at Lord's in the second Test against England.

Captain Virat Kohli might have to seriously consider playing his best spinner Ravichandran Ashwin while expecting a far better show from the seasoned batting line-up when India meet England in the second Test at the Lord's starting Thursday. While India were in a better position to win the first Test before heavens opened up on the final day, the first innings score of 278 was still below par as none among Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane scored runs. Not to forget that all three haven't scored heavily in the past two years and save Rahane, who got a hundred in Melbourne, the other two batting mainstays haven't been able to convert a lot of their half-centuries into three-figures. As far as team combination is concerned, Shardul Thakur's hamstring injury does again tilt the lower-order batting balance although the Mumbai seamer didn't trouble the scorers in the only innings that he played. Ashwin, who was dropped from the playing XI in the drawn opening game in Nottingham because of Ravindra Jadeja's superior skills with the willow, is back in the mix as Thakur seems to have done his hamstring some damage during the training session at the Lord's on Monday. It's still not clear whether he picked up the injury during the first Test or not. With Thakur being all but ruled out of the upcoming match, Kohli might have to revisit his 4-1 bowling combination which can't be cast in stone considering the lean nature of his team's lower-order batting.