England vs India: James Anderson, Chris Woakes steal top honours in report card; Murali Vijay, KL Rahul flunk

Rolled over in both innings, India succumbed to an embarrassing loss at Lord’s, ending England’s win drought at the ground against sub-continental sides. Declaring on 396 after bowling out India for 107 courtesy a James Anderson five-for, England sealed the game with another dominant bowling display on Sunday. This time Stuart Broad led the way with a four-wicket haul with none of India’s batsmen, save Ravichandran Ashwin, putting up any kind of resistance. Here is our report card from a rather one-sided second Test. 10/10 Chris Woakes The unexpected hero at Lord’s was Ben Stokes’ replacement, Chris Woakes. Living in the shadows of a dynamic player like Stokes is tough but Woakes more than filled in for the aggressive all-rounder with a resounding performance. Buoyed by dismissing Virat Kohli in the first innings with a near-perfect delivery, he returned to slam a terrific maiden hundred from no 7 to all but seal the game for England. James Anderson [caption id=“attachment_4951781” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] James Anderson continued his fine form with a nine-wicket burst in the second Test.[/caption] The spearhead of England’s pace attack stamped his presence on the series and showed the visitors what exactly makes him an indispensable force at home in what could be a series-defining performance. Under overcast skies, Anderson was unplayable for most of India’s batsmen, hitting a probing channel and finished with a fifer in the first innings. The scars of Anderson’s spell in the first innings were evident in the manner India played him in the second innings. 9/10 Jonny Bairstow With the game see-sawing a bit after England’s top-order wobble, Bairstow tilted the balance firmly in England’s direction with a positive, intent-driven half-century in the company of a polished Chris Woakes. The partnership was the foundation for England’s first innings total and eventually paved the way for an innings win. Stuart Broad Coming into his own in the second innings, Broad used the conditions and Indian batsmen’s vulnerabilities to scythe through the top-order. Pushed to sidelines in the first innings by Anderson and Woakes, Broad returned with renewed vigour in the second to remove the cream of India’s batting — Pujara, Rahane, Kohli and Karthik — before the innings could take off. 8/10 Sam Curran Hardly required with the ball after the three seamers made light work of India’s batting, Curran used the opportunity to reinstate his batting prowess, striking a 49-ball 40 to accelerate England’s declaration. He was steady with the ball, ensuring he didn’t provide a breather to the Indian batsmen. 7/10 Mohammed Shami The Indian seamer was impressive in bursts but arguably wasted the chance to strike early in the innings under overcast conditions by spraying the ball around. He was fast, skiddy and gained enough movement off the deck to be India’s best seamer on display. The three-wicket haul in the first innings was perhaps marred by a late onslaught from England that affected his bowling figures. Ravichandran Ashwin [caption id=“attachment_4951811” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Ravichandran Ashwin, the off-spinner, failed to show up in the second Test.[/caption] Ashwin was the sole Indian batsman who provided an iota of resistance to the rampaging English attack. He was compact in defence, left the ball well and stood out in an otherwise listless performance from India’s batsmen. He was, however, less effective with the ball in unfavourable conditions and found it difficult to stem the flow of runs. 6/10 Hardik Pandya One of the most criticised players in this Indian line-up, Pandya was perhaps the most improved of them all, showing better tenacity with the bat than most of the top-order. Doubling up as the third seamer, Pandya picked up three wickets and did his part in hastening England’s top-order demise. India, though, might need a more accomplished fast bowler going into the third Test which could see him being sidelined. 5/10 Virat Kohli Kohli resisted a searing spell from James Anderson in the first innings, but struggled to keep his concentration intact after the spearhead was taken off the attack. Chris Woakes, with more pace and surprisingly equally good movement, breached Kohli’s resistance which ultimately proved to be the beginning of India’s downward spiral. With India staring down the abyss the second time around, Kohli, battling a stiff back, fell to Broad without making too much of an impact. All said and done, at this stage of the series, Kohli seems to be the only one standing between England and a whitewash. Ishant Sharma Persistence and patience aren’t really Ishant Sharma’s qualities but the leader of India’s pace attack is finally coming into his own in terms of consistency. He was good without being over the top but perhaps needs to find his way into the wickets column more regularly. 4/10 Jos Buttler While his contribution was minimal in the context of the game, Buttler did his reputation no harm with a typically aggressive 22-ball 24 helping England amp up their declaration efforts. However, he put down two regulation chances in the slip cordon in the first innings. If he is persisted with in the slips, Buttler needs to do a bit of work in the background. To his credit, though, he made amends by snapping up the very same batsmen off the very next ball both times! Ollie Pope On his debut, Ollie Pope appeared gold until he received a special ball from Hardik Pandya. He began with a boundary off his second ball and went on to play a few good shots to give Root some company in the middle. Right when it seemed like England had found their No 4 for the series, Pandya moved one back into Pope and trapped him in front. There is definitely more to come from this 20-year old. 3/10 Joe Root Root was much more impressive with his captaincy, setting aggressive fields and not letting India off the hook at any point of time in the game. With the bat, he once again got a decent start but perished to an absolute peach of a delivery from Mohammed Shami. Alastair Cook Though the veteran England opener began with a series of crisp boundaries, his profound weakness against Ishant Sharma and balls moving away from him late came to the fore once again. Cook looked in pristine touch until he received a brute from Ishant that he was forced to play. The series of dismissals against Ashwin and Ishant would do his confidence no good. Ajinkya Rahane [caption id=“attachment_4951831” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Ajinkya Rahane scored 18 and 13 in his two innings in the second Test.[/caption] In another worrying performance, India’s overseas pillar, Ajinkya Rahane, once again disappointed with his tendency to chase wide balls. After his two shocking shots in the first Test, Rahane came up two more at Lord’s, edging behind the wicket both times. Sorely lacking in runs and temperament, Rahane could well find the axe falling on him for the third Test. 2/10 Cheteshwar Pujara Unfortunate to be at the receiving end of a mix-up in the first innings, Pujara was run-out on his comeback to the Test side. He seemed set to make amends in the second essay and resisted for 87 balls before falling to Stuart Broad. Pujara, however, needs runs to get the backing of his captain, which he seems to be lacking at the moment. 1/10 Keaton Jennings After playing all over a pretty straight delivery from Mohammed Shami, Jennings selfishly chose to review the decision. With the ball striking in line with middle-stump, the opener stood no chance of continuing his stay in the middle and wasted a review for England. Jennings needs to find consistency and play an innings of note in this series to seal his place in the eleven. Murali Vijay [caption id=“attachment_4951841” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Murali Vijay bagged a pair in the second Test.[/caption] Under pressure to perform, Vijay was undone by two brilliant James Anderson deliveries. In the first, he completely misread the swing and lost his off-stump. In the second essay, the Tamil Nadu opener was late moving forward and inside-egded to the keeper to grab a pair. Vijay’s time is running out after an evident decline in his form of late. KL Rahul Another victim of James Anderson’s skills, Rahul barely got a chance to settle in before the England seamer was all over him with his immaculate line and length. He edged to the keeper in the first innings and misread an inswinger in the second innings. Rahul, like the other Indian top-order batsmen, needs work on playing swing and seam. Dinesh Karthik With a gaping hole between bat and pad in defence, Karthik left a lot to be desired with his technique. He was undone by an exceptional inswinger from Sam Curran for one in the first innings. Unfortunately for the keeper-batsman, he followed it up with a golden duck the second innings, once again struggling to keep out an inswinger, this time from Broad. N/A Kuldeep Yadav The Chinaman spinner wasn’t used as an attacking option and with conditions completely against a spinner, Kuldeep had a hard time in his first Test outside the sub-continent. It would perhaps be unfair to rate him on the basis of this performance given that he barely had anything aligned in his favour. *Adil Rashid wasn’t rated due to his minimal role in the match Rating chart: 10-9: Excellent, 8-7: Good, 6-5: Average, 4-3: Poor, 2-1: Very poor