Anyone for a Curry England tour of India 2021

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This tour is so important Buttler to miss three tests so he can get ready for Indian Pub League

india v England: Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer return to Joe Root's squad for first two Tests in Ahmedabad

Archer and Stokes last played Test cricket against Pakistan in August 2020
All-rounder Ben Stokes and fast bowler Jofra Archer have returned to the England squad for the first two Tests of the tour of India.

Both Stokes and Archer were rested for the current series in Sri Lanka.

Batsman Rory Burns, who has been on paternity leave, also returns, but Ollie Pope is yet to fully recover from a shoulder injury.

Jonny Bairstow, Mark Wood and Sam Curran will all be rested for the first half of the four-Test series.

The series begins on 5 February, with the first two Tests taking place in Chennai. The third match, a day-nighter, and fourth Test are in Ahmedabad.

England have only named a squad for the first two Tests, with further players due to be rested for the second half of the series as workloads are managed in a year that is set to include 17 Tests and a T20 World Cup, potentially all in bio-secure conditions.

National selector Ed Smith has confirmed that Jos Buttler will leave the tour after the first Test, meaning Ben Foakes will keep wicket in the second.

"It's a huge year of Test cricket and also a World Cup, a lot of one-day cricket alongside. We're going to have to look after players," said Test captain Joe Root. "With the climate and environment we're in, resting players is going to be vital."

Root expects stronger Sri Lanka challenge
Vice-captain Stokes, 29, has not played a Test for England since the first match against Pakistan in August.

Like Archer, he played for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League in October and November and was part of the squad for three T20s against South Africa. Both men were rested for the one-day series against the Proteas, which was subsequently postponed.

"You speak to any side in the world - those two guys coming back into it would give the squad a huge boost and it's certainly the case for us," added Root.

"I'm very excited to see them back in and around the squad, hopefully they are full of energy and ready to go when they get here."

Surrey batsman Pope has not played since dislocating his shoulder while fielding in the third Test against Pakistan at the end of August.

He is with the squad in Sri Lanka and played in England's only day of on-field preparation, but while he is fit enough to bat, he is still working towards being able to spend long spells in the field.

Of the trio to be rested for the first part of the India tour, all-rounder Curran and fast bowler Wood are the only England pace bowlers who will play both Tests in Sri Lanka. Batsman Bairstow has had little break from bio-secure conditions since June, having been part of England's home summer, the IPL and the tours of South Africa and Sri Lanka.

As well as a 16-strong main squad, England will also travel with six reserves, one fewer than in Sri Lanka, with Somerset pace bowler Craig Overton not included.

England won 2-1 in India in 2012-13, their first series win there in 27 years and India's most recent defeat on home soil.

In 2016, the tourists were beaten 4-0 in what proved to be Alastair Cook's last series as captain.

Even if England win the second and final Test against Sri Lanka, which begins on Friday, they are likely to need a big victory in India to stand any chance of reaching the final of the World Test Championship.

England squad for first two Tests in India: Joe Root (Yorkshire) (captain), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Dom Bess (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Rory Burns (Surrey), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Foakes (Surrey), Dan Lawrence (Essex), Jack Leach (Somerset), Dom Sibley (Warwickshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire).Reserves: James Bracey (Gloucestershire), Mason Crane (Hampshire), Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire), Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire), Ollie Robinson (Sussex), Amar Virdi (Surrey).

[Admin]

Looks like this will be on Channel 4

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FIRST TEST CHENNAI 5/2/2021 TO 9/2/2021

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We are batting after winning the toss 91-2 Root 17 Sibley 35

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First Test, Chennai (day one)
England 263-3 (89.3 overs): Root 128*, Sibley 87
India: Yet to bat
Scorecard
Joe Root marked his 100th Test with a commanding century - his third in as many matches - as England made an impressive start to the first Test against India.

The England captain hit a brilliant 128 not out in Chennai and led his side to 263-3 at the close.

Root shared a stand of 200 with opener Dom Sibley, who ground out 87 from 286 balls before falling in the last over of the day.

The late wicket boosted India but the high-class partnership helped England recover from 63-2, having lost Rory Burns for 33 and Dan Lawrence for a duck on the stroke of lunch.

Root, who hit 228 and 186 against Sri Lanka last month, became the ninth player to mark his 100th Test with a century.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan described the innings, which began in circumspect fashion and became increasingly aggressive, as "the perfect hundred".

"His 50 to 100 was magnificent," said Vaughan, speaking on The Cricket Social. "He went up in the gears, which is exactly what this team needed.

Only once has a team reached stumps on day one of a Test in India, having lost three wickets or fewer, and lost (won 27, drawn 47, tied one, lost one)
The late loss of Sibley, lbw to an inswinging yorker from Jasprit Bumrah, will take the gloss off England's day, but it was still a very impressive start to a much-anticipated series.

First, Root crucially won the toss and then, despite a wobble which included a rash stroke from Burns, he took advantage of a slow, flat pitch.

The hosts, through their three frontline bowlers - Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin - applied intense pressure after lunch but Root and Sibley came through and were then able to profit against India's less experienced bowlers.

India, the leaders in the World Test Championship standings, have only lost one match at home since 2013 and come into the four-match series buoyed by their historic win in Australia last month.

But it was England who had the better opening day, although many more runs are needed.

England scored 477 in their first innings on this ground during their last tour and lost by an innings, after India racked up 759-7 declared.

Root, who battled cramp late in the day, said his side had to aim for a score of "600 or 700".

"The foot holes are starting to wear quite quickly so if we can bat the whole of tomorrow and maybe into day three then things can speed up pretty quickly," he said.

In Root, who was awarded a special cap to mark his landmark Test before play, England have a player in the form of his life.

After a lean 2020, during which he did not record a century, the Yorkshireman has begun 2021 - a year in which England play India home and away and visit Australia for the Ashes - in incredible touch.

In Sri Lanka he batted positively, almost from the outset, but in this innings he was more measured against a far superior bowling attack.

His first 25 runs took 72 balls before he reached his hundred from 164 as his attacking intent grew.

He swept with ease, albeit to a lesser extent than against Sri Lanka, and played a number of excellent shots through the off side off the front and back foot.

In Sibley he found a perfect foil - the England opener doggedly making an impressive score, with clips through mid-wicket his main scoring option.

Sibley had seen his opening partner Burns glove a catch when playing a reverse sweep, but provided no such gifts.

When the few mistakes did come in their dominant partnership, edges dropped short due to the slow nature of the pitch.

India were scrappy at times - they bowled 11 no-balls and there were fielding errors - and looked weary by the end but, as their recent series victory in Australia showed, they are never out of a contest.

'A very special day' - reaction
England captain Joe Root: "It was a very special day. The guys organised a surprise for me last night and Ben [Stokes] in particular said some really nice things.

"It's a really impressive start but it's just a start. We've got to back it up tomorrow.

"We need to make best use of the pitch because it could be a crucial toss. Hopefully we can really make it count. We've got to at least match it tomorrow and get a big first-innings lead."

Indian first-class batsman Abhishek Jhunjhunwala: "India will have wanted to have got four or five wickets from 90 overs. But they won't be too disappointed because even if England get 450/500, India still need to bat.

"The wicket will start behaving differently in the third innings and if England get out cheaply then India could be back in the game. England should be looking at 550 minimum."

Former England captain Michael Vaughan: "Every Test team needs a Dom Sibley or Cheteshwar Pujara who will wear the bowlers down. "Too long we've criticised England for being too flamboyant but now we've got a cricketer who plays the right way."

BBC Cricket Social statistician Andy Zaltzman: "The stat that grabbed me today is the list of players outside of Asia who have scored centuries in three consecutive Test in Asia: Alastair Cook against India in 2012 and then Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Brian Lara, Ken Barrington, Garfield Sobers and Everton Weekes. It's an incredibly illustrious list."

How social media reacted to Root's hundred
Neil Gibbons on #bbccricket: The guy is unreal! He is going to be the greatest ever!

Ruth Brooksbank: Joe Root is the most naturally talented England batsman I've ever seen. He's also a great captain, a fantastic ambassador for cricket, and will no doubt go on to be our greatest ever batsman.

Jonathan Doidge: Why not just write your own scripts eh Joe Root?! 100 in his 100th Test. Three in a row. Dream stuff. Incredible. Take all the plaudits young man. Richly deserved!

[Admin]

472-4 talking in the region of 700 first innings score

[lancsdes]

Thought it was great this morning that I got messages from two of my godsons about the cricket. My nephew had a father who wasn’t interested in sports and lived a long way from me so I wasn’t able to indoctrinate him so it is so good to see him enjoying Test cricket. My best friend’s son has always been sport mad but great to see these two young men enjoying the proper game.

As Alastair Cook said, it’s great that Test cricket is back on terrestrial television. It gets people talking about the game again.

[Admin]

Fair play to Channel 4 nice bit of symmentry yesterday before it was Good Morning Richie now it's Rishi, think possibly they missed a trick not declaring but we'll see on that also caught a bit of the test from Rawlpindi Pkistn and South Africa could be an iteresting finish in that one


England 555 for 8 (Root 218, Stokes 82) vs India

Joe Root's second double-hundred in three matches helped England turn the screw on the second day in Chennai, as India conceded more than 550 in a single innings of a home Test for the first time since 2011.

Dom Sibley's dismissal in the last over of the first day had provided India with an opening, with England in danger of wasting an impressive start to the Test and with memories of their last visit to Chepauk - when they had racked up 477 and lost by an innings - still fresh.

But Ben Stokes opted to attack as the pitch started to show signs of wear, racking up 82 off 118 balls to take England to lunch unscathed, before Root's stand with Ollie Pope in the afternoon session helped them towards 500. India were eventually rewarded for their bowlers' hard work, taking four wickets for 52 in the evening session to leave England eight down, but their focus may now be on saving - rather than winning - the Test.

After driving the scoring rate on the first evening in partnership with Sibley, Root played second fiddle for most of his stand with Stokes. Having survived an inswinging yorker from Jasprit Bumrah early in the day, jamming his bat down late to keep it out via an edge into the boot, Stokes decided to put his foot down, and launched R Ashwin for a straight six inside the first half-hour.

There were signs in the first session that the pitch was not quite as flat as it had seemed on the first day, with puffs of dust from the surface and variable bounce for the spinners. Washington Sundar found some trampoline bounce from the footholes outside Stokes' off stump, while Ashwin was convinced he had trapped Stokes lbw reverse-sweeping, only to discover on review that the ball had hit him on the glove.

India burned their second review five balls later, when Shahbaz Nadeem's arm ball struck Root on the pad, but ball-tracking confirmed that it would have missed the top of leg stump. Stokes had two further lives, when Ashwin put down a half-chance off his own bowling and Cheteshwar Pujara, diving at full stretch, failed to cling on at midwicket. Stokes made his intentions clear by slog-sweeping Nadeem for six three balls after the second drop, before reverse-sweeping him for a pair of boundaries to bring up fifty.

Stokes continued to score freely after lunch, clubbing Nadeem over long-on and clipping Bumrah's slower ball through midwicket, but eventually holed out, slog-sweeping straight down square leg's throat where Pujara clung on despite initially fumbling.

Pope joined Root at 387 for 4 and unsurprisingly looked slightly rusty after six months out through injury. Kohli used India's third and final review when Pope swept to leg gully, but replays showed it had clearly hit the forearm rather than the glove.

Root, meanwhile, picked up where he had left off on Friday, happily milking Sundar and Nadeem for singles to keep the score ticking over. He was creative in playing reverse-sweeps and laps, but reached his double with a more orthodox shot, skipping down the wicket to swing Ashwin over the long-on boundary for six.

Root has scored 644 Test runs in five innings over the past four weeks, and his run tally in 2021 is more than double that of his nearest challenger, Steven Smith. As Rohit Sharma came on to bowl his part-time offspin before tea - which included an impression of Harbhajan Singh's action - it seemed as though India were becoming increasingly desperate in their bid to dismiss him. He also passed Alec Stewart to go third in the list of England's all-time leading run-scorers.

But the breakthroughs arrived after the interval. Having miscued an Ashwin full toss over Pant's head two overs before, Pope was struck in front while playing down the wrong line to a ball that didn't turn and was plumb lbw to leave England five down. In the following over, Root was pinned in front of leg stump by Nadeem, playing down the wrong line to one that skidded on, and while England warmly applauded his epic innings, India sensed an opportunity to expose the tail at 477 for 6.


Jos Buttler and Dom Bess rebuilt with an unflashy stand, with Buttler rifling Ashwin for a pair of fours, cutting balls either side of point. He benefitted from Kohli's enthusiasm to review when he got a thin edge behind off Sundar, which was given not out by umpire Anil Chaudhary to India's chagrin. Ultra-Edge confirmed that the decision would have been overturned if India had been able to review.

The stand took the total past 500 as India's hard graft continued, before the tireless Ishant Sharma took two wickets in two balls, extracting prodigious reverse-swing with the old ball. First, Buttler left one alone that he thought would miss his off stump only to look back and see it pegged back, before Jofra Archer made a mess of a similar delivery and was cleaned up first ball. Ishant's double-strike took him to 299 career wickets, though he could not complete 300 with a hat-trick after overstepping.

Jack Leach joined Bess, who offered a straightforward chance to Rohit at midwicket only to be put down, and with India's no-ball struggles returning in the final half-hour, they had added 30 together by the close. When they resume in the morning, it will be the first time in 20 years that England's first innings has extended into the third day uninterrupted.

Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets at @mroller98

[man in the stand]

Nice to have the cricket back on free to air TV. Surprised that Joe Root didn't declare and have a go at the tired Indian batsmen for half an hour or so.

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Viewing figures over a million for the first day compared to 430000 for the Sri Lanka test on Sky

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In the good old days used to wake upto the phrase England batting collapse this morning India struggling 92-4

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The joy of test cricket Pant hammering the ball to all parts then Washington and Ashwin batting to ensure overs are taken out of the game, whilst West Indies chase down just shy of 400 to beat Bangledash with debutant Mayers hitting an unbeaten 210 in the second innings which I believe is a Test records whilst in Rawpindi SA near the close chasing 370 are 125-1

First Test, Chennai (day two)
England 578 (190.1 overs): Root 218, Sibley 87, Stokes 82
India 257-6 (74 overs): Pant 91; Bess 4-55, Archer 2-52
India trail by 321 runs

Dom Bess advanced England's chances of victory over India on day three of the first Test in Chennai, despite a sparkling knock from Rishabh Pant.

Spinner Bess took 4-55 as India closed 257-6, still 321 runs behind.

Bess had India captain Virat Kohli caught for 11 and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane for one, the hosts reduced to 73-4.

Pant then brutally targeted the spin of Jack Leach in a stunning counter-attack, while Cheteshwar Pujara made 73 in support.

But Bess returned to dismiss both batsmen with wicketkeeper batsman Pant caught at deep extra cover by Leach for 91 from 88 balls.

Jofra Archer earlier claimed the wickets of both India openers in a fine new-ball spell after England added 23 runs in 40 minutes with the bat. They were eventually bowled out for 578.

A seventh-wicket partnership of 32 from Ravichandran Ashwin and Washington Sundar frustrated England late in the day but Joe Root's side look to be the only team who can win the Test.

Three days in, England have still hardly put a foot wrong in this match.

After patiently accumulating over the first two days, on day three they knocked over India's much-fabled top order.

Archer and Bess were excellent, England's fielding outstanding too.

James Anderson brilliantly caught opener Shubman Gill diving at mid-on and Root clung on one-handed at extra cover at dismiss Rahane.

After lunch they brilliantly squeezed the scoring rate, conceding just 14 runs in an hour during which Bess had star batsman Kohli caught at short leg off the inside edge.

Even luck favoured England. Pujara was caught at mid-wicket after the ball had deflected to him off Ollie Pope's shoulder at short leg.

England's only blemishes were Leach's inability to overcome Pant's dazzling attack and a difficult drop by Archer late in the day to reprieve Sundar on 25. Archer was running back from long-on and spilled a ball coming over his shoulder.

Still, India, the leaders in the World Test Championship who have lost once at home since 2013, face a long battle to deny England over the final two days.

[Admin]

Somehow get the feeling letting the game drift in the last session may cost them

First Test, Chennai (day four)
England 578 (Root 218) & 178 (Root 40, Ashwin 6-61)
India 337 (Pant 91, Sundar 85, Bess 4-76) & 39-1
India need 381 to win

England will need nine wickets on the final day to beat India after setting up their victory push on day four of the first Test in Chennai.

India closed on 39-1, requiring a record 420 to win or, more realistically, needing to bat out the final day for a draw.

India, who faced 13 overs, lost opener Rohit Sharma to Jack Leach.

Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara reached the close unbeaten on 15 and 12 respectively.

England were tentative in their attempt to set India a challenging target - posting 178 all out from 46.3 overs.

They initially batted positively - building on a 241-run first-innings lead secured earlier in the day - but their scoring rate dropped to a crawl after tea.

Rather than declare, they batted on, allowing overs to be lost from the game - overs which they may need to take nine wickets on day five.

India began day four on 257-6 in their first innings and added 80 runs before they were dismissed for 337 shortly before lunch.

Washington Sundar made an impressive 85 while James Anderson and Leach took two wickets each.

Should England secure victory and take a 1-0 lead in the four-Test series, it would mean just a second defeat for India on home soil since 2013.


The route taken by England to get to this position was curious, but they are still favourites to claim one of their most famous wins in recent years.

There has been enough in the pitch, particularly with the new ball, for England to be confident of securing victory.

India, led by Sundar, made a solid start in the morning but when the new ball was taken the final four wickets fell for 32 runs.

The hosts opened with spin from both ends and England opener Rory Burns edged to slip from the first ball of England's second innings.

He fell to Ravichandran Ashwin, who also dismissed Dom Sibley for 16 with another ball that turned, bounced and found leg slip. Batting was difficult. India's off-spinner finished with 6-61.

India's quick bowlers found uneven bounce when introduced, another boost for England's chances.

Ishant Sharma dismissed Dan Lawrence lbw with a ball that kept low for his 300th Test wicket and Jasprit Bumrah did the same to Joe Root, after the England captain had made a breezy 40.

England were strangely flat for much of their late burst with the ball, Jofra Archer not offering the penetration of the first innings.

But, Leach's wicket of Rohit was a fine delivery that pitched on middle stump and hit off, highlighting the difficulties India will face.

[Admin]

Where would they be without Jimmy

ngland 578 (Root 218, Sibley 87, Stokes 82) and 178 (Ashwin 6-61) beat India 337 (Pant 91, Sundar 85*, Pujara 73, Bess 4-76) and 192 (Kohli 72, Leach 4-76) by 227 runs

England inflicted a 227-run defeat on India in Chennai thanks to a dominant fourth-innings bowling performance, with Jack Leach and James Anderson taking seven wickets between them on the final day as they wrapped up victory before tea.

After removing Rohit Sharma on the fourth evening, Leach struck the first blow on the fifth morning by drawing an edge from Cheteshwar Pujara, and returned to help mop up the tail, but it was Anderson's spell before lunch that ripped out India's middle order and set the win in motion.

With the ball reverse-swinging and keeping low from a length, Anderson sent the off stump cartwheeling out the ground twice in his first over of the day to remove Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane, and induced a leading edge from Rishabh Pant to leave him with figures of 5-3-6-3 in a spell that defined the day.

Despite a near-faultless innings of 72 from Virat Kohli, India's chances were quashed by the loss of five wickets in the first session, and after a grubber from Ben Stokes snuck under Kohli's bat, Leach and Archer finished the job to seal a sixth consecutive away win for England. This was only India's second defeat at home since their 2-1 series loss to England in late 2012, and leaves them needing at least two wins and a draw in the remaining three matches if they are to reach the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final.

Gill had started the day by working the first ball he faced for four through midwicket, punishing Leach as he dropped a fraction short. But if India had hoped that would be a sign of things to come, there was evidence early on that the pitch would not prove straightforward: Gill had to jam his bat down on a shooter from Leach, and was beaten by some extra bounce from a length two overs later, while Jofra Archer found inconsistency in carry while bowling to Pujara.

Pujara's wicket looked the crucial one, after his rearguard efforts in Australia and with his impeccable record against left-arm spin. But he was gone within half an hour: he closed the face looking to work Leach into the leg side, but the ball turned and bounced to take the shoulder of the bat and loop up to Stokes at slip.

Gill continued to score freely, picking off Dom Bess' loose balls and reaching a fluent half-century, at which point Root threw the ball to Anderson, hoping he could get it to reverse-swing. He could. His second ball was full, and hooped in from outside off stump. It breached the gap between Gill's bat and pad, and crashed into the off stump, sending it cartwheeling and England into exuberant celebrations.

But Anderson was not content with a single breakthrough. The fourth ball of his over rapped Rahane on the pad, again hooping in towards the stumps from wide on the crease and keeping low. Umpire Nitish Menon was unmoved so England reviewed, and while the ball was shown to have been crashing into the base of middle, the decision was upheld with its impact shown as 'umpire's call'.


There was no doubt about his next ball. Anderson again went very full, anticipating prodigious movement from the reversing ball, and again snuck through the gap between bat and pad. The ball kept low once more, pinging into Rahane's off stump and sending it out of its groove. It left India four down within the first hour, and with their hopes of saving the game hanging by a thread.

Anderson struck once more in his spell, with Pant unable to continue his rich vein of form. Having reversed the ball both ways, Anderson ran his fingers down the side of the ball when pitching full, and Pant, shaping to work to leg, could only miscue to Root at short cover via a leading edge.

Bess returned after an inconsistent first spell, and once Kohli - who looked in fine touch right from the start of his innings - had hit him for four off a full toss, he drew a thin edge from Washington Sundar, prodding forward outside off, who was given out on review.

Kohli represented India's final hope, putting away three consecutive full tosses from the wayward Bess before lunch and lofting Archer down the ground for a crisp four. Archer rapped Ashwin on the glove before striking him on the wrist and the badge of the helmet, but India went into the break six down.

After lunch, Leach again found extra bounce from a length to get Ashwin caught behind, shaping to cut but only managing to glove through to Buttler behind the stumps. Kohli had not put a foot wrong, but was undone by a shooter from Stokes which skidded out of the rough and knocked back the off stump, and after Leach had Shahbaz Nadeem caught at silly point to take his fourth and England's ninth, Archer sealed the win as Jasprit Bumrah edged behind.

England were buoyant, winning their sixth Test in Asia on the bounce and their 11th in a row with Root as captain, helping him move level with Michael Vaughan with 26 wins, the most by an England captain. Questions about the timing of his declaration were made academic by a clinical bowling performance on the final day, and his side are now 1-0 up in a series they went into as outsiders.

Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets at @mroller98

[Admin]

2nd Test Chennai 13/2/2921 to 17/2/2021

Same ground only this time with fans in 25,000 to be precise, Anderson rested and Buttler now back home.