What

The second Test of the four-match series between England and India

When

July 29- August 2, 2011. The game begins at 3:30 pm, IST.

Where

Trent Bridge, Nottingham. The last time India played at this venue was in 2007 when Zaheer Khan bowled them to a seven-wicket victory, posting match figures of nine for 134. Since then, England have managed to win both the Tests played at this venue. In 2008, they recorded a win by an innings and nine runs against New Zealand while in 2010 they beat Pakistan by a whopping 354-run margin.

The Teams

After their 196-run defeat at Lord’s, India are under pressure to bounce back in a big way. Their batsmen will have to apply themselves a whole lot more to handle the challenge posed by the English pacers. With Zaheer Khan almost certain not to play, his place is likely to be taken by S Sreesanth. The Kerala pacer last played in the Test series against South Africa in December 2010/January 2011. Expecting him to come up with a superlative performance in his first Test match after nearly seven months might be a tough ask.

Riding on their clinical decimation of India in the previous Test, England might just be a bit relaxed. However, they too were in trouble at 62 for five on Day 4 when Matt Prior helped stage a recovery.

With their pace attack, led by James Anderson and Stuart Broad, primed to take 20 wickets on most surfaces, England will fancy themselves even at Nottingham.

Trivia:

Harbhajan Singh is eight wickets away from bagging 50 Test wickets against England. Should he manage to do that in this Test match, India will most certainly find themselves in a winning position. However, Harbhajan’s chances of accomplishing this feat in the Trent Bridge Test are pretty low given that his career best figures in a match against England are seven for 110. Further, the offspinner’s best showing till date in a Test match in England is five for 139.

Having scored a century on Test debut against Australia in the 2009 Ashes, Jonathan Trott is only 41 runs short of completing 2000 Test runs. The England No. 3 batsman has impressed many with his resolute technique; his tenacious 70 against India in the first innings at Lord’s epitomises his 22-match Test career.

Venue Stats:

England – played 55, won -18, lost – 16, tied – 0, draw –21 – win percentage – 32.72

India – played 4, won - 1, lost – 1, tied – 0, draw – 2 – win percentage – 25.00

Highest total in an innings: England 658/8 decl. in 188.0 overs v Australia - June 10, 1938

Lowest total in an innings: Pakistan 80 in 29.0 overs v England – July 29, 2010

Best individual score in an innings:Denis Compton (England) – 278 v Pakistan- July 1, 1954

Best bowling figures in an innings:Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) 30.0-10-70-8 v England – June 2, 2006

Average first innings score at Trent Bridge: Overall - 326, since 2000 – 337

Average second innings score at Trent Bridge: Overall - 304, since 2000 – 300

Result summary at Trent Bridge:

Head-to-head:

Form guide (most recent listed first):

India: Lost, Drawn, Drawn, Won, Drawn (1 win, 1 loss)

England: Won, Drawn, Drawn, Won, Won (3 wins)

The Squads:

India: MS Dhoni (c & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Praveen Kumar, Virender Sehwag, Wriddhiman Saha and Amit Mishra

England: Andrew Strauss (c), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk), Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, James Anderson and Tim Bresnan

All stats are as onas on July 28, 2011