England are ready to pounce on the weakest India team for years

The force is with England and they will never have a better chance of a 2-0 lead in India than this week against seriously under-strength opponents.

Seldom can England have enjoyed such a turnaround in a few days from bouncing back in the first Test to seeing India lose experienced players as well as their nerve when faced with Bazball in full flow.

It is a long time since England were presented with such a weak India batting line-up following the loss of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja for this Test on top of Virat Kohli’s absence and Rishabh Pant’s long-term injury. Not since 2011 have India picked a Test team without one of either Kohli or Jadeja. With Mohammad Shami injured too, every aspect of the India side has been weakened.

Rahul and Jadeja top scored in India’s first innings at Hyderabad but now India rely on Shubman Gill, who is averaging 29, Shreyas Iyer, who has not passed 35 in 11 innings, and debutant Rajat Patidar.

Since the mid 1990s England have toured India and encountered middle orders that were unchanged for years: Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman through to Pujara, Kohli and Rahane.

Now Rohit Sharma must quickly create an environment that allows youth to flourish, like it does under Ben Stokes. If not, then England can take huge strides towards ending India’s run of 16 consecutive home series wins.

The pitch looks flat without the scrubbed up ends of Hyderabad showing England have forced India to rethink already. Such was the urgency that Rahul Dravid, India’s head coach, flew to Vizag independently of the two teams early on Tuesday morning to supervise preparation.

He now feels a good batting pitch is India’s best bet because in Jasprit Bumrah they have the one bowler on either side who can perform on any surface and their young batsmen need the confidence of a score to set them up for the series.

The risk is that a belter will allow England to be even more aggressive and it is hard to play opponents who have it drummed into them that it is the process that matters, not the end result. It instills a bravery that is hard to counter, especially for an India team carrying scars from World Cup final failure.

“There’s a lot more to it than simply results don’t matter,” said Stokes. “Every time we walk out on the field we want to win but for me it’s not being tunnel-visioned towards that because you have to do a lot of things to get there ... it’s not a start and an end, there’s so many things you have to manoeuvre around in a Test match and it’s about trying to play as good as you can. If either team plays to their capabilities or as close as they can, they’re going to give themselves the best chance.”

Stokes has persuaded his players to put their full trust in the method which is why they are so hard to kill off – as India found out in Hyderabad and at Edgbaston in 2022 when they took a 132-run first-innings lead but lost by seven wickets. It makes them very hard opponents to size up.

If the pitch is flat, India will be thinking of a draw and if they win the toss, to bat and pile up a big score. That means England will face a different challenge. Scoreboard pressure looked irrelevant in Hyderabad, however, and they scored 500 in a day in Rawalpindi on a real flattie. This is what England make opponents do: doubt their methods and overthink strategies that have worked for years.

The pitch may bring the draw into the equation, which India would take and hope Kohli tilts the balance if he returns for the third Test. Stokes would have to look up draw in the dictionary and will try to manufacture a result, regardless of the conditions. He will be happy to lose in pursuit of victory.

England may well go with an extra seamer, James Anderson possibly coming in for Rehan Ahmed, a move that weakens the batting but gives Stokes more control and reverse swing option.

Jack Leach’s absence provides Shoaib Bashir with a path to a Test cap just a few months after playing club cricket in the west country, which would sound barmy in most eras, but with Stokes’s record of coaxing debutants into performing way beyond expectations, it feels natural to throw him in.

“My thing with spinners is giving them as much backing as I do every other bowler, because they are just as important regardless of the skill,” Stokes said. “I want you to come on and make something happen. A bowler’s job is to take wickets and then obviously not let them worry about the outcome. The scoreboard is something I don’t really look at until the very end to see how many runs are left to win or whatever it is. I guess it gives them a bit of confidence knowing that one spell ain’t gonna mean too much.”

Stokes first spotted Bashir’s potential when he saw footage of him bowling to Alastair Cook and shared it in his WhatsApp group with Brendon McCullum and Rob Key. Forget the data analytics that flood cricket these days. Stokes trusted his gut. It has not let England down very often so far.