The latest cricket news is that England have won the toss and elected to bowl first. The toss wasn't the most crucial one and Virat Kohli wouldn't be too unhappy to be batting first. The toss was delayed a bit due to a light drizzle as was the start of play by 15 minutes.
Playing XI:
India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
The big news is the omission of Ravichandran Ashwin who doesn't get a game because of the conditions. The only change in the side is Ishant Sharma replacing the injured Shardul Thakur which does weaken the batting. KL Rahul's brilliant performance at Trent Bridge means that there is no place for Mayank Agarwal while India's middle order trio keeps their place despite their lack of form.
England: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, James Anderson.
Also read: Siraj shushing Bairstow was unnecessary, he will learn from this: Dinesh Karthik
James Anderson is declared fit while the injured Stuart Broad is replaced by Mark Wood. Zac Crawley who has been lacking in form is dropped in favour of Haseeb Hameed. Dan Lawrence also misses out as Moeen Ali gets in as a spin bowling all-rounder.
Weather forecast:
The weather forecast in London is very positive. There is no rain forecasted for any of the five days which means that bad light is the only way play can be interrupted. The first day in particular should have cloudy weather which will assist the quick bowlers. We should have a five day test match with minimal interruptions and hopefully a result at the end.
Pitch report:
Lords pitch can be flat at times but the slope on the pitch gives the bowlers something to work with. The cloudy conditions on day 1 makes it favourable for the seamers despite the pitch. The pitch does have a bit of grass on it but not as much as the one at Trent Bridge. The wicket is very good to bat on and India would be looking at a minimum first innings score of 350 runs.
Virat Kohli has done exactly what he said about taking 20 wickets in the match by backing his 4 seamers losing a bit of extra batting prowess lower down the order. Joe Root did the same by bringing in an all-rounder for a pure number 6 batsman.
A lot of the game could be determined in the first session which is the only time there are overcast conditions forecasted. If the Indian openers manage to bat for the first then they might be cruising towards a special victory at the 'Mecca of cricket'.
