The four-match series between India and England commenced on Friday with the 1st Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
England are currently 555-8 in their first innings after a dominant display with the bat over the first two days. Joe Root has led the way with a classy double hundred (218) in his 100th Test match, alongside sizeable contributions from Dominic Sibley (87) and Ben Stokes (82).
Root’s majestic innings lasted just over nine hours, breaking numerous records along the way, as he further etched his name into cricketing history. The 30-year-old is now third in the list of leading England’s leading Test run-scorers, with only Graham Gooch and Alastair Cook in front.
England will enter the third day tomorrow in a commanding position, on a pitch which is offering increasing assistance to the bowlers. They will, no doubt, be inspired by the fact that no team in India has ever lost a Test after scoring more than 500 in their first innings.
Root and his England side are on a quest to become the first team to win a Test series in India since 2012 when his predecessor, Sir Alastair Cook led England to a 2-1 win. Remarkably, Root made his debut for England in the same series. .
India have been unbeaten since then at home and came out 4-0 winners the last time England toured in 2016. That run has included 12 successive Test series wins at home, with only one loss in the last 35 matches they have hosted. They are strongly expected to maintain their formidable record on home soil.
Both sides enter the contest on the back of impressive series wins away from home. India remarkably defeated Australia in an iconic series despite missing their captain, Virat Kohli for the majority of the series and having to use 20 players – the most any team has used in an away series in the history of Test cricket – due to a barrage of injuries.
Meanwhile, England completed a comfortable series victory in Sri Lanka behind closed doors, with Root himself scoring 426 runs over the two Tests including two mammoth centuries. Undoubtedly, Root is in some of the finest form of his career to date.
In England, the series is live on Channel 4 – The first time that live Test cricket is on free-to-air television since 2005. Star Sports accepted the broadcasters bid for the live coverage of the series earlier this week and it is expected that the current national lockdown in the UK will generate significant audiences for the coverage.
Just as England experienced in Sri Lanka, the first Test is taking place in front of no spectators. However, the recent relaxation of guidelines in India means that fans are expected to be allowed in from the second test onwards.
A report in The Times of India confirms that spectators will be allowed for the second Test in Chennai, which begins on February 13th. With an allowance for 50% of the capacity of the venue, almost 25,000 may be able to attend next week.
The third and fourth Tests will take place in Ahmedabad at the freshly revamped Motera Stadium, with spectators also expected to be allowed in.
● February 5-9 – 1st Test, Chennai
● February 13-17 – 2nd Test, Chennai
● February 24-28 – 3rd Test, Ahmedabad
● March 4-8 – 4th Test, Ahmedabad
England are scheduled to remain in India until late March with ODIs and T20s scheduled after
the Test series.
