Sachin Tendulkar and Ravi Shastri to ring bell prior to Lord's Test

The second Test between England and India at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground gets underway today. The home team won the first match by 31 runs and are brimming with confidence. On the contrary, Virat Kohli and his men couldn’t quite get their act together at Edgbaston in Birmingham and conceded a 1-0 lead to their opponents in the five-match series.

Prior to the upcoming encounter at Lord’s, it has been learned that Sachin Tendulkar, the former legendary Indian batsman will ring the five-minute bell before the start of the first day’s play. He was approached to do the honours and he gleefully accepted the same. Ravi Shastri, the head coach of the Indian team, has been invited for the same on the third day, however, he hasn’t confirmed about the same.

India has so far contributed six bell ringers

Ted Dexter, the 82-year-old former English all-rounder, and Anya Shrubsole, the fast-bowler of England’s women’s team, are scheduled to ring the bell on Day two and four respectively. She was also the first woman to appear on Wisden’s Cricket Almanac. Her best figures of 9.4-0-46-6 came against Mithali Raj’s India at Lord’s in the final of the Women’s World Cup last year.

In the meantime, Hugo Barnard, the official administrator at Lord’s revealed the names of the dignitaries. The person to ring the bell on the fifth day is yet to be announced. The tradition was introduced in 2007 and the bell is located outside the Bowler’s Bar of the Lord’s pavilion.

“India has so far contributed six bell ringers. The list of Indian players include Sunil Gavaskar, late MAK Pataudi, Dilip Vengsarkar, Rahul Dravid, Kapil Dev and Sourav Ganguly,” Adam Mathews, the Media and Communications Officer at Lord’s, was quoted as saying in Deccan Chronicle.

England don’t have an overwhelming record at the venue while India have had some intriguing moments at Lord’s over the course of their cricketing journey. Kohli’s men would now be hoping to turn their fortunes around with a resounding performance.

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