Anderson's comeback chances high in Vizag after critical pitch revelation

On a sporting wicket in Hyderabad, England had made a remarkable comeback to beat India in the opening Test by 28 runs. Despite trailing by 190 runs in the first innings, England rode on Ollie Pope's magnificent 196 and a seven-wicket haul from Tom Hartley in the second innings to beat the hosts and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

The attention now turns to Visakhapatnam for the second Test, with significant speculations on the nature of the surface at the ACA-VDCA Stadium. England opener Zak Crawley, during a media interaction after the side's first session at the stadium, stated that the pitch seems to have some green on it, indicating that it can potentially help seamers, too.

"So, this wicket looks a bit better to seam, according to the guys, I haven't seen it, like I said, but that's what they said," Crawley told reporters.

"It's just a bit damper, I think here it seems like they're a bit greener, so we'll see what happens there."

Earlier this week, England coach Brendon McCullum suggested that the side won't shy away from playing all the available spinners if the pitch is a rank turner. Jack Leach, however, was ruled out of the second Test on Wednesday due to an injury.

There can be changes made to the pitch, of course, but if the pitch conditions remain the same as they were on Tuesday, it won't be a surprise if England opt to play their veteran pacer, James Anderson. The Englishman had missed the first Test as the visitors picked only one fast bowler in Mark Wood.

Anderson has been a key figure in England's Test matches in India, particularly during the 2012 series, when he played a crucial role in England's 2-1 victory over MS Dhoni's team, capturing 12 wickets. Across his 13 Test appearances in India, Anderson has taken 34 wickets, maintaining an average of 29.

To add to India's woes, the side will also take the field without Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul – two of its star players. Virat Kohli remains unavailable for the second Test, too.

"We haven't spoken about that, to be honest," Crawley told reporters when asked about the injuries concerns in the Indian camp.

"As I said, it sounds a cliche, but we stick to what we do well, we're not too worried about what they're doing. Two very good players missing, but I'm sure looking at their depth, they've got two very good players coming in. So that won't change anything for us too much. We just try and play the same, read the conditions on day one and see what happens from then."