India have decided for a spicy turner against a well-prepared England side in the second Test starting Saturday, aware of the fact that it can backfire and cost them a spot in the World Test Championship final, reported PTI.

The hammering 227-run defeat in the first Test has probably shaken a complacent team out of its stupor ahead of three high stake Test matches. However, this is a perfect stage for India’s mercurial skipper Virat Kohli, who loves to bring his A game to the fore when the chips are down.

Having the crowd back in the stadium ready to egg him on too will be helpful as he thrives on it. India need to win two matches and not lose any of the games to make to the WTC final.

As part of rotational policy, England will have a new wicketkeeper in Ben Foakes while Stuart Broad will replace James Anderson. Moeen Ali, a known nemesis of India, is replacing last match’s first innings top wicket-taker Dom Bess.

Chris Woakes, who is a handy batsman apart from being a pacer might replace Jofra Archer after the his elbow injury. Joe Root said, “Jofra is a slight setback but hopefully he is fit and ready for the third Test.”

The newly-laid dark-coloured Chepauk track indicates that it will offer turn earlier than expected. Star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will need a lot of support from the other end in terms of both restrictive and attacking options.

While Axar Patel is the closest to being a like-for-like replacement for an injured Ravindra Jadeja, looking at the track, Kuldeep Yadav is set to be inducted into playing XI for this particular game.

The toss will be very crucial and even if turns square, Kohli will look to bat first and expect Rohit Sharma to go beyond the two or three pretty shots that he has been managing so far. Kohli gave a master-class on how to play the reverse swing in the first Test but it always takes two to tango.

Kohli would either need Cheteshwar Pujara or an Ajinkya Rahane or a Rishabh Pant to support him.

Squads India (from): Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishab Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasiprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Wriddhiman Saha, Shardul Thakur.

England (from): Joe Root (captain), Dominic Sibley, Rory Burns, Ollie Pope, Dan Lawrence, Ben Stokes, Ben Foakes (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach, Olly Stone.