India vs England: Virat Kohli and Joe Root's men will be looking to re-enact Edgbaston spectacle at Lord's

Imagine eating a sumptuous feast – a three-course spread that just transcends your culinary senses, with the appetizer raising the bar for main course, and the latter for dessert. You wonder at every bite if it is going to be as good as the last one, and it turns out to be so, one of the most memorable meals ever.

Thing is, just how do you follow it up? Every time you sit to eat afterwards, there is cause for concern – will any dish ever match up to it? It is almost the same predicament for this Test series after what we witnessed in Birmingham. Four more Tests, back-to-back, starting with the second one at Lord’s on Thursday – just how will they live up to that fabulous contest at Edgbaston?

On Tuesday, after attending an MCC committee meeting, Australian legend Ricky Ponting spoke about the importance of reverse swing, and why ball tampering reached a flashing point earlier this year. He referred to match conditions not helping bowlers, and cricket as a whole becoming too imbalanced towards batsmen. Then, he spoke about the Edgbaston Test.

“One of the key takeaways from last week was that the ball was doing something throughout the game, and it allowed bowlers to have a say. They didn’t need to look for unconventional methods (reverse swing or working on the ball) because there was enough for pacers and spinners in the pitch and match conditions,” said Ponting.

In a way, he laid out the perfect template for Test cricket. Sure, there is no control over weather conditions, but make pitches that help bowlers and allow batsmen who show enough grit and patience to score runs. In addition, standardise the Dukes ball, and sit back to enjoy the show. Is it so easy though? The answer might just be forthcoming in the next five weeks across this series, wherein conditions will be different across just one country, let alone world cricket.

Take Lord’s, for example. Since 2014, England have only won three out of nine Tests here. They have lost twice to Pakistan, once to Australia, and to India of course (2014). They were also held to a draw by Sri Lanka. Skipper Joe Root pointed to a difference in conditions at this ground when asked about it, variation in terms of each visit, perhaps more than at any other ground. And it is no wonder that it plays in the opposition’s hands.

“Whilst walking here (to the press conference room), the square looked very dry,” opined Virat Kohli, a day before the Test begins. It provides a reference to Root’s aforementioned variation – not only from the Birmingham Test, but also from the games against Pakistan here earlier this summer, or the one against South Africa last year. So much so, it has both sides thinking about possibly playing a second spinner.

For England, the deal is simple. They have announced a Test debut at Lord’s for 20-year-old Olliver Pope, which is only surprising because of the age factor. You want to ask if English selectors couldn’t find anyone older who is good enough to fit into that middle-order? Then again, Sam Curran is also 20, and he won England that first Test, so perhaps national selector Ed Smith knows what he is doing.

At the time of writing, Root didn’t know what he was going to do about Ben Stokes’ empty slot. He wanted to wait until toss time and see if conditions change to decide if England play a second spinner (Moeen Ali) or an extra pacer (Chris Woakes). Until late Wednesday afternoon, the grass hadn’t been shaved off. Weather predictions indicate a wet weekend in St John’s Wood (where Lord’s is located), so do the math yourself.

For India, the predicament is a bit more complex than simply playing a second spinner ahead of the third pacer (Umesh Yadav). Kohli said he was ‘tempted to play the second spinner’, and we know he likes using such words before a match. It was ‘intent’ in South Africa, ‘gut feeling’ in Birmingham, and now based on ‘temptation’ you just assume that he will pick a second spinner.

But who will it be? Kuldeep Yadav is just awaiting his chance to bamboozle the Englishmen again. He would like to bowl to Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings and Pope, three of that top-four who have never faced him before. But can Ravindra Jadeja be left out – he helped India set up a winning total with an attacking half-century at this ground in 2014. People also forget that as lone spinner, he also took three wickets on a green-top wicket.

Rest assured, it will be a tougher decision than changing the Indian batting line-up. “As a team, we keep patience and don’t judge so fast. Wickets falling in a heap (at Birmingham) wasn’t about technique – it was more of a mental aspect. We need to cut down on the margin of error,” said Kohli on the eve of this second Test.

Read that again, and you just know that Shikhar Dhawan will play on Thursday, ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara with KL Rahul at number three. Even by the skipper’s chopping and changing selection policy, it will be a bit of stretch if one of Dhawan or Rahul is dropped after just one game where the ball was doing something throughout.

In summation then, India could have one change (second spinner) going into this game, which would be in keeping with Kohli’s record of never playing the same eleven in consecutive Tests.

Yet, for the first time in 37 matches, there is also a small chance that he could field the same team as the previous Test. Don’t bet your hard-earned money on it, though!