England will have a spring in their step when they take on India in the second Test at Lord’s from Thursday.
England have an excellent record in Tests against India at the ‘Home of Cricket’. In 17 Tests at the ground, India have won just two matches and have suffered defeats 11 times. Looking at the overall, India don’t seem to stand stand much of a chance despite winning the last time in 2014.
However if you look at the England’s record at the ground in the last few years, a trend emerges – that of a clear struggle against subcontinent teams.
In last 10 Tests at the ground, England have won four Tests, lost as many and drawn two. The wins have come against Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies.
But more interestingly, two of the defeats have come against Pakistan and one against India. Also, both draws have come against Sri Lanka.
The trend started with India defeating the hosts in 2014 thanks to a six-wicket haul from seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and a seven-wicket burst from quick Ishant Sharma.
Then in 2016, Pakistan triumphed by 75 runs thanks to a 10-wicket match haul by leg-spinner Yasir Shah.
Pakistan leg-spinner Yasir Shah.
The men in green were at it again this year, as an inexperienced team led by Sarfraz Ahmed stunned Joe Root’s England by nine wickets with seamer Mohammad Abbas picking up eight wickets in the match.
Sri Lanka done admirably as well. They drew their matches in 2014 and 2016.
Seamers and spinners from the subcontinent have enjoyed conditions at Lord’s. And given that the pitch for the match starting Thursday should aid spinners due to the heatwave in London, expect India to be extremely competitive.
