India seek to seal series against rattled England

for England. There may not be clouds to help create English conditions when they take the field in the second T20 on Friday.

There was a touch of class to whatever India did at Old Trafford, winning by eight wickets. Such was the force of the Virat Kohli-led team’s performance the hosts were made to look pedestrian. They need to lift their game many notches to avoid being swept aside in the tough series ahead of the 2019 World Cup. There’s no gainsaying that working out a gameplan to counter the effectiveness of Kuldeep Yadav will dominate England’s team meetings . KL Rahul, the batting hero with an unbeaten 101, warned England of more spin trouble. England faced the Merlyn machine, which can replicate any kind of spin, at nets. The technology was introduced in 2005 to replicate Shane Warne’s deliver- ies before the Ashes, which England won. Rahul said it wasn’t only about the batsmen’s weaknesses.

“I don’t think it is just England (batsmen who will struggle). A good wrist spinner is a good wrist spinner against any opposition. With the skill and quality Kuldeep and Yuzvendra Chahal have, it’s always going to be hard for a team that doesn’t play spin a lot. What Kuldeep did was special. To get balls like that against Bairstow and Root, it is always hard for a middle-order batsman. The way Chahal and Kuldeep are bowling, they’re going to be dangerous throughout the series.”

England have no chinaman bowler to face at the nets. Skipper Eoin Morgan bemoaned after the first game: “There’s no one who can turn the ball both ways’.

England will need to alter the plan to attack Kuldeep. They may be better off working him around.

The match as a contest lasted only the first four overs. Hardik Pandya read the batsmen’s movements superbly, following their feet with clever variations while Umesh Yadav enjoyed the extra pace on offer. How Morgan and Co cope with the challenge of playing wrist spinners in the white-ball matches will determine whether England batsmen move into 2019 season with confidence intact.