Lord’s Test: England look to unleash Jofra Archer after four-year gap

The mood shift in the Indian camp since the historic Edgbaston win on Sunday is understandable, though they have to be mentally ready to fight fire with fire in the crunch third Test at Lord's from Thursday. After the featherbed pitches in the first two Tests, England coach Brendon McCullum has reportedly called for more ‘life’ at Lords, but it could well turn out to be a double-edged sword for England.

The first look at the Lord’s pitch, as revealed by the travelling media contingent, shows what seems like a lively strip with a fair covering of grass, even as the buzz grows that the hosts will finally unleash Jofra Archer on Shubman Gill & Co. for his first Test appearance in four years.

England has also included the tall Gus Atkinson in the squad as a cover soon after the 336-run mauling at Edgbaston, but there could still be cause for concern for the hosts as Jasprit Bumrah — the best in the business across formats — will also be back.

The optional practice session on Tuesday had Bumrah going full tilt, while the two architects of the second Test win — Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep — took a break. Karun Nair, the comeback man who failed to build on his starts in both innings at Birmingham, hit the nets in right earnest under the watchful eyes of batting coach Sitangshu Kotak.

The dilemma about retaining the grass rests with the hosts, who for all the bravado that McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes may show upfront, did admit that it was a somewhat off-the-mark decision to let India have the first strike in the second Test. A key component of the so-called 'Bazball' strategy at home since 2022 has been to create batter-friendly wickets and take their chances while chasing, but this is where the somewhat unheralded Akash Deep dealt England's confidence a body-blow last weekend.

James Anderson, England’s pace legend who has the winners’ trophy jointly named after him and Sachin Tendulkar, wants Archer to be in the playing XI.  ‘’You could keep trying to build his overs up and play him later in the series, but it could be too late by then. I think he will play. He played one game for Sussex; he was around the team at Edgbaston and bowled a bit. I just feel like you’ve got to play him. It’s too crucial a game not to,’’ said the owner of 704 Test wickets.

Archer, who has not made a Test appearance in more than four years, played a match for Sussex before joining the squad in Birmingham, but the team management decided against tinkering with the XI which won the first Test. The thinking has, of course, changed as McCullum said: ‘’Jofra is looking fit, he’s looking strong, he’s looking ready to go and he’ll come into calculations. It’s hugely exciting. He’s buzzing as well. He’s obviously been through his injuries and his time out of Test cricket.’’ 

‘’We all know what he’s capable of achieving in Test cricket and we hope that when the opportunity does arrive for him, he’s able to recapture and also improve on what he’s been able to do already in that form of the game,’’ he added.

If the last Test at the ‘home of cricket’ in June — the World Test Championship (WTC) final between South Africa and Australia — is anything to go by, it was nothing short of a batting nightmare with both teams struggling to reach 200. However, the wicket eased out in the last innings where the Proteas went on to complete a chase of 282 with five wickets to spare. The lone centurion in the match was Aiden Markram and only three wickets fell to the spinners.