IND vs ENG: Should England drop Sam Curran for the Headingly Test?

England's reliable all-rounder Sam Curran has performed poorly in the first two matches of the ongoing Test series against India.

He failed to even pick up a single wicket in the first Test, played at Trent Bridge, and achieved a king pair in the following match at Lord's.

Sam Curran's contribution in the first two Test matches

With Ben Stokes pulling out of the Test series against India at the last moment due to mental health concerns, there was a lot of responsibility put on Curran's shoulders. However, the man who won the Player of the Series award during India's tour of England in 2018 has not lived up to expectations so far in the ongoing competition.

Match 1 - Trent Bridge

Sam Curran failed to pick up a single wicket in the 15 overs that he bowled during India's first innings and did not bowl at all in the visitors' rain-curtailed second innings.

Although the all-rounder failed with the ball, he contributed with the bat. He scored an unbeaten 27 in the first innings and 32 in the second, amounting to 59 total runs in the first match of the series.

Match 2 - Lord's

It was a complete disaster with the bat for Curran in the second Test, as he bagged his maiden king pair. He was dismissed on the very first delivery on both occasions. The 23-year-old also conceded four boundaries in an over, which helped the Indian openers break free to post a healthy total in their first innings on Day 1.

However, he bagged the prized wicket of Indian captain Virat Kohli during India's second innings to at least make up for some of his otherwise negative performance overall.

King pairs for England:W Attewell v Aus Sydney 1892EG Hayes v SA Cape Town 1906JM Anderson v Ind Visakhapatnam 2016SM Curran v Ind Lord's 2021

— Andrew Samson (@AWSStats) August 16, 2021

Sam Curran's contribution with both bat & ball in the ongoing India Test series so far:

Venue	Runs Scored	Overs Bowled	Wickets taken
Trent Bridge (1st Test)	59 (27* & 32)	15 (15 & 0)	0
Lord's (2nd Test)	0	40 (22 & 18)	1 (Virat Kohli)

England's performance at home with Curran in the playing XI

Sam Curran made his Test debut in June 2018 and has helped them win Test matches at home. Prior to the Lord's Test match against India a week ago, England did not lose a single match in the longest format with Sam Curran in the playing XI, winning eight and drawing two. His all-round contribution has become an asset for them to win games at home/

England's record in home Tests with Sam Curran in the team

Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
11	8	1 (Lord's vs India, 2021)	2

Should England drop Curran for the third Test?

From the first two Test matches of the ongoing tour, it is evident that Curran has struggled with his bowling. The impact was seen in his batting as well, during the second Test match at Lord's. He drifted too many deliveries on to the pads, which helped the Indian batsmen score easy runs.

However, Curran would be a great asset to the home team if he is able to address some of the flaws in his bowling. He also bagged the prized scalp of Indian captain Virat Kohli at Lord's and that should go some way towards motivating England to field Sam Curran for at least one more match in this series.

India are currently leading the five-match Test series in England by 1-0. The first Test match played at Trent Bridge was drawn courtesy of rain before the visitors made a brilliant comeback to win the second Test match at Lord's and take the lead in the series. The third Test match will be played at Headingly, beginning Wednesday, August 25.