England face another trial by spin when they meet India in the second T20I of the five-match series at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
They were trampled by the trio of Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel, who had combined figures of 5 for 67 in 12 overs in the opener at Eden Gardens as India cantered to a seven-wicket victory on Wednesday.
Varun, the Man of the Match in Calcutta for his 3/23, will appear before his home crowd for the first time in an international match and will be keen to make it memorable. He has won both the TNPL and IPL at this venue and knows the conditions pretty well.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has hailed Varun as a “lovely mystery spinner” skilled in “bringing the ball back into the right-handers.”
Varun is looking forward to make his presence on Saturday memorable.
“Back in Chennai and in Blues is very important for me. Playing for my country in front of my parents and the home crowd. It is very special for me,” he said.
However, it will not mean extra pressure. “No, nothing as specific. My role is to just be aggressive and be brave and keep bowling at the stumps. That has been my role. There is no added responsibility. GG (Gautam Gambhir) and Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) make sure that there is no external stress on the players. They keep the external noise away,” Varun said.
Varun’s priorities are pretty clear. “The plan will be the same and will see how they’re going to approach me and it’s all instinctive. Initially you have a certain plan for certain batters, but if they’re trying to do something different, it will be more instinctive,” the leg-spinner explained.
While the conditions will suit the slow bowlers, there is no guarantee that Mohammed Shami will make his much-anticipated return in Chennai. Arshdeep Singh’s early blows dented England’s hopes at Eden Gardens and it is unlikely that the team management will sacrifice one spinner.
Shami had an active presence in the nets in Chennai too, starting with a light jogging session alongside assistant coach Abhishek Nayar. With heavily bandaged knees, he began bowling at nets with a reduced run-up and worked up reasonable pace as well.
There was an injury scare when opener Abhishek Sharma faced twisted his ankle during the catching drill at nets on Friday.
Subsequently, Abhishek was checked by the team physiotherapist on the field before retreating to the dressing room. He was seen slightly limping while walking back to the pavilion and did not bat at nets either.
England will again look up to captain Jos Buttler to provide the momentum. It is also important for opener Phil Salt to begin well since he has had the experience of playing on such surfaces during the IPL.
“Jos is obviously very experienced in India. He’s done exceptionally well in the IPL and whenever he’s played for England here. So it’s really nice to watch him go out there and go about his business.” Harry Brook said.
Jacob Bethell reportedly missed training on Friday with illness and if he doesn’t recover in time, Jamie Smith could make his T20I debut. Smith had a stint with the gloves too on a humid afternoon and geared up for the challenge.