England’s aggressive ‘baseball’ style of cricket could face its biggest challenge yet when they take on an Indian side that has not lost a home Test series in over a decade.
The five-Test series begins in Hyderabad on Thursday and although India will be without Virat Kohli for the first two matches due to personal reasons, they will still go into the tournament as clear favourites.
Monte Panisar, who is part of the English team, said that his team has nothing to fear in this series where spin bowling can be expected to play a big role.
Speaking to Talk Support, the former England spinner said that England has every chance to win the Test match.
‘They need a positive mindset. Ben Stokes must be thinking to himself, can I make baseball successful on turning pitches?
‘Obviously this will be their biggest challenge.’
Skipper Stokes and England prepared in Abu Dhabi instead of playing the tour matches in India, which drew criticism from some quarters at home, with fears that England had been ‘underprepared’.
Panisar said that if he wins in India, he will probably be known not only as one of England’s greatest captains but also as one of the greatest captains in Test cricket.
India and England drew 2-2 in their last series in England in 2021-22.
‘Superhuman’
England coach Brendon McCullum teamed up with Stokes in 2022 to help turn around England’s red-ball fortunes, having previously managed just one win in 17 Test matches.
Since then, England have won 13 out of 18 Tests under the duo’s leadership and have been playing an aggressive style of cricket dubbed ‘baseball’, similar to former New Zealand captain McCullum’s nickname.
But last summer’s 2-2 Ashes series draw against Australia marked the first time there were differences of opinion over the action-packed strategy.
Veteran fast bowler James Anderson and senior batsman Joe are the only two remaining members of the team that secured England’s last Test win on route to India.
The 41-year-old Anderson is 10 wickets short of 700 wickets in Test cricket.
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‘Jimmy is super human. People expected him to retire for about seven years. He has been surprising people ever since.
He said he had a bad summer last year but knowing him as a character, he won’t do it (India tour) unless he is sure he can make a difference. are
Anderson will lead England’s bowling following the retirement of fast bowler Stewart Broad after the Ashes series.
Jack Leach will be crucial for the visitors as their front-line sniper in a field that includes two inexperienced players including Tom Hartley and Shoaib Bashir.
Despite his advanced age, Root has been prominent in a batting field that also includes Jonny Bairstow, Stokes and Ollie Pope.
‘Dream will win’
India recently drew the two-Test series in South Africa. Earlier in June ahead of the T20 World Cup, Afghanistan won 3-0 at home ahead of the T20 World Cup.
But they are a different team at home on the turning track.
Top players, including captain Rohit Sharma, will return to Test mode in matches that will earn points for the World Test Championship.
India is second only to Australia in the championship table.
England are ranked eighth and will need a series win against India if they are to play in the final at Lord’s next year.
Spin is expected to be crucial, with India banking on the experience of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. His total number of Test wickets is 765.
On the batting front, Kohli’s absence from the first two matches will hurt India, but he is expected to be available for the third Test.
Kohli has scored runs at an average of 56 in India’s Test matches against England, including three centuries.
The series will be an opportunity for upcoming players including Yashvi Jaiswal and wicketkeeper-batsman KS Bharat to prove their mettle in the longer format.
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2024-08-15 15:24:14
