Joe Root has derived encouragement from the manner in which England bowled to Virat Kohli in the first Test at Edgbaston.
“On that last morning he batted 55 minutes and he faced 13-14 balls,” he said. “Very skilful [of our bowlers] to be able to manipulate him off the strike and starve him of facing the majority of deliveries.
“And in the first innings, to create two half-chances and two clear chances was testament to how we’ve got good plans against him and found a way to potentially get him out.”
England has failed to beat Asian opposition at Lord’s in its last five attempts, having lost twice to Pakistan, drawn twice with Sri Lanka and lost to India in 2014.
“Maybe, but every time you turn up here the surfaces can be quite different,” said Root. “At the start of the summer we were below par and it would be easy to look too far into that.”
The England skipper had no hesitation in naming Ollie Pope in his side, with the 20-year-old set to bat at two-drop.
“He’s very mature for a young man. I can see that he thinks about the game a lot and has a very good understanding of where he’s at within his own game.
“He’s obviously batted at six for Surrey this season — but having seen him play a little bit, and the way his game is set up, I think it’s very much transferable to bat at No. 4 in Test cricket.
“I know that might be seen as quite a big jump. But he’s obviously an exciting talent and, with the guys around him, I think he fits nicely into that position in our team.”
