Jonny Bairstow says England can contend without Stuart Broad and James Anderson when India go in search of a rare Test win at Lord's.
Broad has been ruled out of the remainder of the five-match series after suffering a torn calf in training on Tuesday, while Anderson is expected to miss out with a quad injury.
Saqib Mahmood was called up to the squad on Wednesday and could make his debut in the absence of England's vastly experienced seam duo, with Moeen Ali poised to return in the longest format.
Bairstow cited the ODI series against Pakistan, which England won despite having to name a totally new squad at the eleventh hour following a coronavirus outbreak, as an example that other players can step in and take their chance.
“It would be a big loss [if both Anderson and Broad miss out], naturally, because they've got over a thousand Test wickets between them," said Bairstow.
"I don’t think it's too much of a destabiliser to be honest. I think with the nature of professional sport there is going to be injuries at times, there is going to be illness, it can happen overnight and you've got to be adaptable within the group.
"It's potentially a loss but with that comes an opportunity for other people. When we've seen that previously in the summer, in the Pakistan series, there were opportunities that arose for other people coming in and they rose to those challenges."
India also suffered an injury blow, with seamer Shardul Thakur missing due to a hamstring problem.
Ravichandran Ashwin could come into the team as a second spinner, while Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav are pushing for recalls.
The first Test ended in a draw after the final day was washed out at Trent Bridge, with the tourists chasing 209 to win. Both sides were docked two points in the ICC World Test Championship points for slow-over rates in Nottingham.
ROOT BACK ABOVE KOHLI BUT IN NEED OF SUPPORT
Joe Root's exploits in the opening Test moved him above India captain Virat Kohli into fourth in the ICC Test Batting Rankings.
Root came to the rescue with a masterful 109 in the second innings after the England skipper top scored with 64 in his side's 183 all out in the first innings.
England's top three of Rory Burns, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley are under pressure, with Haseeb Hameed waiting for his chance to step in.
KOHLI: MOEEN A DANGER MAN
All-rounder Moeen is poised to switch from The Hundred to the Test arena after he was called up this week.
Moeen claimed match figures of 8-226 when he returned to the Test stage against India in Chennai six months ago and Kohli is well aware of his quality.
Kohli said: "We are wary of his skills. He's obviously a very talented cricketer, brings consistency with the ball and as a middle-order or lower-order batsman. Especially in Test cricket, he can change the momentum of the game with the bat.
"He's in great form right now, he's batting really well and with the ball he is always someone that the team has banked on, so we will have to be at our best going up against Moeen."
KEY OPTA FACTS
- England have lost just two of their 18 Tests against India at Lord's, winning 12 and drawing two. The last India win at the famous venue came in 2014.
- England have failed to register a win in their past six Test matches (D2, L4), their longest winless run since 2017-2018, when they failed to register a win in eight matches (D2 L6).
- Root (8,887) is 14 away from becoming the second-highest run-scorer for England in Test history (Graham Gooch – 8,900). Root is the only player to score over 1,000 runs since the beginning of 2021 in the longest format.
- Ravichandran Ashwin (413) is five away from becoming the third-highest Test wicket-taker for India, with Harbhajan Singh on 417.
Dr Kishore Shallow elected president of Cricket West Indies at AGM in Antigua, T&T's Bassarath is new vice president
Dr Kishore Shallow was elected unopposed as the new president of Cricket West Indies at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting in Antigua on Saturday. He will have Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board President Asim Bassarath as his vice president.
Dr. Shallow succeeds Ricky Skerritt, who decided not to seek a third term. Skerritt became president in 2019 after defeating three-term president Dave Cameron in Kingston.
The new president, who also leads the Windward Islands Cricket Board, has promised significant changes to the way the CWI operates going forward. Those changes will manifest atop four key pillars that include cricket development; human capital, commercial and marketing as well as governance.
In a recent interview, Dr Shallow said he intends to invest in the development of young cricketers from the grassroots to the senior level while establishing a culture of pride and passion for West Indies cricket.
The new president also plans to incorporate modern-day best practices that align with Caribbean culture as well as implementing a viable and lucrative commercial model to enhance revenue streams for Cricket West Indies.
Southgate: Balogun must be patient for England call-up
Gareth Southgate urged Folarin Balogun to be patient for an England call-up.
The 21-year-old striker has excelled on loan with Reims this season from Arsenal, scoring 17 Ligue 1 goals – only Kylian Mbappe and Jonathan David (both 19) having netted more.
Balogun's international allegiances are up for grabs, with the New York-born striker eligible for the United States, as well as Nigeria, and visiting the US during the international break.
Southgate is not prepared to issue him a call-up in order to seal his international future, however, citing his lack of Premier League experience as a reason for him being overlooked.
"It is up to the player to weigh up where his heart feels. Is he prepared to wait a little bit for an opportunity if he backs himself and feels he can push his way into our squad?" he said.
"Because anybody who has followed us will know that we will give young players a chance. So, we cannot go and give first-team call-ups to someone just because we don't want them to go somewhere else.
"We like Flo. He has obviously not had an opportunity in the Premier League yet, so we have to weigh up those goals to Ivan [Toney], for example, or Ollie Watkins. Or Eddie Nketiah, who has done really well with the opportunity he has had at Arsenal.
"I know there are going to be offers as 80 per cent of our players can play for more than one country now, and we are not arrogant expecting everybody to want to come to play for England. We have to make them feel wanted and feel part of that.
"Ultimately, it does not matter what you say. If you cannot give them the opportunity now, then some people are patient and want to see it through and are prepared to wait a bit and others want it now and I can totally understand that."
'Special' Fullkrug can pull Germany along – Flick
Germany coach Hansi Flick credited Niclas Fullkrug with having the ability to "pull the team along" after the striker's double against Peru.
Fullkrug's two first-half goals ensured Euro 2024 hosts Germany claimed a routine 2-0 victory in their opening match of 2023.
Germany dominated Saturday's friendly in Mainz, and only a twist of the rules prevented Kai Havertz making it 3-0 in the second half, with the Chelsea forward's first-time finish on the rebound after he hit the post with a penalty disallowed as no other player had touched the ball.
Flick reserved special praise for Fullkrug, who has netted five goals in as many international games, and became the first Werder Bremen player to start for Germany since Serge Gnabry in 2016.
"Niclas is a player who is special, he is very confident, he wants to win and can pull the team along. He also gives the team a lot of positive energy," Flick told Sky Sport.
Sandro Wagner is the only other player this century to have scored five goals across his first five appearances for Germany.
However, there are elements for Fullkrug to work on, with Flick noting: "There were a few situations that I wasn’t happy with today.
"If we play forward, we have to have a certain seriousness about it.
"Niclas has also had one or two situations where he can be better, but he's still there for goals and he scored them."
Germany's game was their first since their disappointing showing at the World Cup, where they suffered a group-stage exit.
However, Germany are on a 13-game unbeaten run in friendlies (W8 D5) equalling their record, which was set between 1994 and 1996.
"I think you could see that the team played with a lot of dynamism, especially when it came to attacking," Flick said.
"A lot of things were good, but not yet at 100 per cent, although you couldn't expect because we didn't train very much.
"The team has never played together in this formation, but there were still a few situations that we played out well, where the last pass was missing.
"We scored two nice goals and kept a clean sheet, which was a focus for us this week."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
