2 minute readIndia’s most newsworthy selection for this Test was their decision to bowl Deep – but it’s notable they set themselves up to bat deep too. That particular move seemed to leave tail-amputating Josh Tongue with fewer targets. How would he respond? As previously reported, in the first Test India were
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3 minute readWhenever there’s a new Test captain, it’s impossible to suppress comparisons with their predecessors. Rohit Sharma never seemed too angry about hitting hundreds (who knows, he may even have enjoyed them). But Virat Kohli? Man, he was absolutely bloody furious about reaching three figures. The early signs are that Shubman
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3 minute readThe big news ahead of the second Test at Edgbaston is that Jasprit Bumrah is eggs and somehow this is useful. (It’s probably a blessing that Rohit Sharma’s retired.) “We feel we can go 1-1 or keep the score at 1-0 without Jasprit,” said India’s assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate.
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3 minute readEngland achieved a couple of things at Headingley. Most obviously, they won – but they also did so while compelling Jasprit Bumrah to bowl really quite a lot of overs. That’s an investment that might pay dividends later in the series. Unleashed! It’s easy being a really good batter because
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2 minute readIt feels like Josh Tongue arrived for this match bang on eight hours late. But did he let prolonged abject non-contribution to his team’s cause dissuade him from bagging a hatful? No, for some reason, he did not. Tongue gleefully licked up rabbit pie, according to the peculiarly nauseating mime
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3 minute readWe generally prefer to highlight less obvious moments, but this one seems a perfect synopsis of why this has already been a top rate Test. It was two uncanny cricketers with their own peculiar ways of going about things taking each other on within a match where you’re never quite
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3 minute readEngland v India. Five Tests. Man alive, there’s scope for some stuff here. We’re only stopping at five with this article because if we send the email any later, you’ll all end up paying attention to THE WRONG THINGS and we’d never forgive ourself. Rishabh Pant v Shoaib Bashir In
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2 minute readEngland have stuck with Ollie Pope as their number three batter. However, growing numbers of people are worried that he’s metamorphosising into Australian leg-spinner, Lloyd Pope – or at least the version of Lloyd Pope from seven years ago. At the start of the summer, Ben Stokes seemed to momentarily
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3 minute readIt feels like South Africa threw the World Test Championship Final away more times than Australia. It’s just that when Australia threw it away, they did so decisively. To recap all the throws, South Africa, in their position as underdogs, very definitely threw the match away in their first innings
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2 minute readOoh, it’s a crucial session coming up, isn’t it? It promises to be a great, great morning for fans of commentators saying, ‘it’s a crucial session coming up’. Before the World Test Championship Final began, a lot of the selection intrigue centred on who exactly should get to stand at
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