Buoyant India unperturbed by prospect of spicy Lord’s pitch; Archer can help England rattle India: Broad

India expect England to roll out a challenging track for the third test at Lord’s but are confident their in-form batters can master it, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said on Tuesday.

India levelled the five-test series 1-1 with a thumping 336-run victory at Edgbaston where they racked up 587 in the first innings and declared their second on 427-6.

England are pondering overhauling their tired bowling attack and a fit-again Jofra Archer is in line to play his first test in more than four years at Lord’s.

“It will be a challenge if Jofra comes in,” Kotak told reporters ahead of the third test beginning on Thursday.

“England might want to make a couple of bowling challenges. The wicket, it seems, will also be a bit more challenging.

“After the last two games, if England decides to roll out a more challenging wicket, it’s fair enough.”

The green tinge of the pitch tells Kotak that runs would not exactly flow at Lord’s.

“This wicket looks greener than the last two matches. But one cannot be too sure before the final trimming tomorrow,” he said.

“Normally the first and second innings scores at Lord’s tend to be lower. So bowlers can expect a bit more help here.”

Shubman Gill has been in sensational form in his first series as India’s test captain smashing a hundred in the opening test in Leeds and following it with scores of 269 and 161 at Edgbaston.

Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal have also struck hundreds, which Kotak believed meant they would not be found wanting at Lord’s regardless of conditions.

“For the batters, it will be a matter of just trying to spend as much time as possible on this wicket and adjust to it,” he said.

“Our batters are so skilful that they are scoring at four an over even when they are not looking to score quickly.

“But the mindset here would be, we won’t look for boundaries. If you don’t play silly shots, you’ll play long innings on these wickets.” Meanwhile, Stuart Broad believes a Test cricket return for Jofra Archer could help England hit back against India after the tourists’ “borderline perfect” performance at Edgbaston.

England won the series opener with a commanding last-day chase at Headingley but were thrashed in Birmingham, where India won the second Test by a colossal 336 runs.

India captain Shubman Gill led from the front with a mammoth 430 runs as his side levelled the five-Test series at 1-1, with Akash Deep taking 10 wickets in the match.

“Look at this series so far: we’ve had 10 Test match days and I reckon India have won nine of them,” Broad said on his podcast ahead of the first day of the third match at Lord’s on Thursday.

“They are going to be way stronger because they’re bringing the best bowler in the world (Jasprit Bumrah) back in on the back of a performance that was borderline perfect. That’s a pretty strong place to be.

“When you get such a one-sided result it’s easy to be really critical of the other team but I’d lean against that, India were just superb.”

Archer burst onto the international scene in 2019, starring in England’s 50-over World Cup triumph and drawn Ashes series.

But the 30-year-old played the last of his 13 Tests in February 2021 and this season has bowled just 18 first-class overs for county side Sussex.

“His attributes are amazing. He’s tall, incredibly athletic, gets bounce and pace and he does move the ball,” said Broad of Archer.

“Time has made him more exciting as well. When he’s not been around for a huge amount of time you want to tune in and see what’s coming.”

Broad believes Archer’s extra speed could even stop Gill’s remarkable run-spree in its tracks.

“You can picture it now, Jofra at the Pavilion End, nipping it down the slope, Shubman Gill (lbw) on the shin. That’s why he’s being brought back in.”

Meanwhile, India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak told reporters on Tuesday: “It will be a challenge, Jofra coming in. There might be a couple of bowling changes in the England team, but that we don’t know.”

Agencies